The hidden stigma of aging and COVID-19: aggravating factors and strategies to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in older adults, a text mining analysis.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with mental health of older adults during the pandemic and to provide strategies to mitigate their psychosocial impact in the elderly. METHOD: An integrative text mining analysis in Medline was performed to identify studies on the mental health of older adults during the pandemic. Subsequently, statistical topic modeling was performed to identify the most prevalent terms and topics discussed in included studies. RESULTS: A total of 29 studies were retrieved until July 1st 2020, including a majority of letters (12 studies) and commentaries (8 studies). The most frequent terms overall were loneliness (n = 137), support (n = 132), home (n = 102), suicide (n = 96) and help (n = 94). The most prevalent terms were then divided in five topics home (33%), suicide (32%), apps (15%), loneliness (12%) and physical activity (9%). Additionally, a section focused on low- and middle-income countries was included. A summary of strategies to mitigate the effects of pandemic in mental health of older adults was also provided. CONCLUSION: These factors demonstrate the importance of developing strategies for psychosocial support that take into consideration the particularities of the elderly. Different levels of care are immediately necessary to diminish the devastating impact of the pandemic in the mental health of older adults.