Depression and Anxiety in Residents of a Retirement Community during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of Louisiana implemented a quarantine leading to a decrease in social interaction, a risk factor for anxiety and depression among the elderly population. The objective was to determine if quarantine would negatively affect the mental health of the elderly in a residential community. Methods: This limited longitudinal assessment and analysis, uitilizing the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) to assess depression and anxiety during quarantine. Data was collected three times over 12 weeks during the quarantine from 46 of 57 residents stratified as nursing home, assisted living, and independent living of a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in the New Orleans area. 37 (80%) of 46 patients were females, mean age 86.1 (SD 9.1) years old; 25 (54.3%) were nursing home residents, 13 (28.3%) were in assisted living, and 8 (17.4 %) were in an independent living community. Results: 16 (34.8%) patients were diagnosed with depression before being surveyed. Five (10.9%) had previous diagnoses of anxiety. Anxiety scores decreased significantly from baseline (average 4.35 vs. 3.28, p-value = 0.045) at