The General Public’s Perceptions of How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted the Elderly and Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
Abstract
:1. Introduction
The Present Study
2. Methods
2.1. Design and Participants
2.2. Procedures and Materials
2.3. Data Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive Results
3.2. Contact Quality with the Elderly and the Perceived Impact of the Pandemic on This Group
3.3. Familiarity with People with Intellectual Disabilities and the Perceived Impact of the Pandemic upon this Group
3.4. Differences between the Perceived Impact of the Pandemic on the Elderly and People with Intellectual Disabilities
4. Discussion
Limitations and Future Directions
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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n = 1458 1 | n = 1761 2 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Demographic Attribute | n | % | n | % |
Gender | ||||
Male | 613 | 42.0 | 855 | 48.6 |
Female | 841 | 57.7 | 903 | 51.3 |
Other | 4 | 0.3 | 3 | 0.2 |
Age | ||||
18–24 years | 45 | 3.1 | 42 | 2.4 |
25–39 years | 313 | 21.5 | 296 | 16.8 |
40–54 years | 555 | 38.1 | 528 | 30.0 |
55–69 years | 545 | 37.4 | 528 | 30.0 |
70–84 years | - | - | 361 | 20.5 |
85 years or older | - | - | 6 | 0.3 |
Education | ||||
Low | 161 | 11.0 | 259 | 14.7 |
Mid | 439 | 30.1 | 518 | 29.4 |
High | 855 | 58.6 | 980 | 55.7 |
None | 3 | 0.2 | 4 | 0.2 |
Ethnicity | ||||
Dutch | 1288 | 88.3 | 1577 | 89.6 |
Migration background | 170 | 11.7 | 184 | 10.4 |
Urbanisation a | ||||
Not urbanised | 101 | 6.9 | 121 | 6.9 |
Hardly urbanised | 301 | 20.6 | 378 | 21.5 |
Moderately urbanised | 231 | 15.8 | 293 | 16.6 |
Strongly urbanised | 437 | 30.0 | 529 | 30.0 |
Extremely urbanised | 366 | 25.1 | 412 | 23.4 |
Missing b | 22 | 1.5 | 28 | 1.6 |
Personal experiences of COVID-19 c | ||||
None | 480 | 32.9 | 488 | 27.7 |
Being at risk | 233 | 16.0 | 427 | 24.2 |
Contamination | 479 | 32.9 | 544 | 30.9 |
Hospitalisation | 87 | 6.0 | 98 | 5.6 |
Loss of job | 59 | 4.0 | 58 | 3.3 |
Loss of loved one | 120 | 8.2 | 146 | 8.3 |
Contact frequency with the elderly d | ||||
Daily | 116 | 7.9 | - | - |
Weekly | 585 | 40.1 | - | - |
Monthly | 333 | 22.9 | - | - |
Yearly or never | 424 | 29.1 | - | - |
Contact quality with the elderly | ||||
Low | 26 | 1.8 | - | - |
Moderate | 195 | 13.4 | - | - |
High | 1237 | 84.8 | - | - |
Familiarity with people with intellectual disabilities e | ||||
No familiarity in real life | - | - | 492 | 27.9 |
Familiarity in passing | - | - | 481 | 27.3 |
Familiarity at work | - | - | 255 | 14.5 |
Familiarity in private life | - | - | 533 | 30.3 |
Elderly (n = 1458) | Intellectual Disabilities (n = 1761) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Item | M (SD) | Less (%) | The Same (%) | More (%) | M (SD) | Less (%) | The Same (%) | More (%) |
Quality of life | 1.90 (0.59) | 89.6 | 9.5 | 1.0 | 2.16 (0.57) | 76.0 | 23.5 | 0.6 |
Physical and mental health | ||||||||
Anxious † | 4.02 (0.53) | 0.8 | 9.9 | 89.4 | 3.82 (0.58) | 1.2 | 23.3 | 75.4 |
Down † | 4.10 (0.55) | 0.4 | 8.8 | 90.8 | 3.83 (0.56) | 0.8 | 22.7 | 76.5 |
Stressed † | 3.89 (0.59) | 1.0 | 19.9 | 79.1 | 3.82 (0.60) | 1.0 | 25.3 | 73.8 |
Happy | 2.15 (0.62) | 78.3 | 19.3 | 2.4 | 2.41 (0.60) | 59.1 | 38.3 | 2.6 |
Peaceful | 2.38 (0.80) | 62.8 | 28.5 | 8.7 | 2.37 (0.70) | 63.7 | 30.4 | 5.9 |
Healthy | 2.56 (0.65) | 44.2 | 52.5 | 3.3 | 2.77 (0.49) | 24.3 | 73.7 | 2.0 |
Loneliness | 4.29 (0.80) | 3.4 | 6.0 | 90.7 | 3.80 (0.72) | 4.5 | 21.0 | 74.5 |
Social contact | ||||||||
Quality | 1.84 (0.70) | 88.3 | 9.2 | 2.5 | 2.09 (0.59) | 80.2 | 18.6 | 1.2 |
Frequency: | ||||||||
Partner | 3.01 (0.68) | 14.6 | 70.0 | 15.4 | 2.90 (0.60) | 18.3 | 72.2 | 9.5 |
Parents | - | - | - | - | 2.67 (0.84) | 46.2 | 36.9 | 16.9 |
Children | 2.39 (0.86) | 65.6 | 20.2 | 14.1 | 2.54 (0.74) | 49.3 | 42.2 | 8.5 |
Other family | 1.94 (0.84) | 80.2 | 13.6 | 6.2 | 2.14 (0.76) | 74.5 | 20.3 | 5.2 |
Friends and acquaintances | 1.88 (0.79) | 83.3 | 12.6 | 4.1 | 2.06 (0.75) | 77.7 | 18.0 | 4.3 |
Neighbours | 2.39 (0.81) | 59.2 | 31.9 | 8.9 | 2.29 (0.71) | 64.5 | 31.2 | 4.3 |
Shop assistants | 2.00 (0.74) | 77.3 | 20.4 | 2.3 | 2.05 (0.68) | 76.5 | 22.3 | 1.2 |
Healthcare providers | 2.86 (0.81) | 31.7 | 48.2 | 20.1 | 3.03 (0.75) | 20.6 | 55.1 | 24.3 |
Activities | ||||||||
Walking or cycling | 2.74 (0.99) | 44.0 | 31.0 | 25.0 | 2.62 (0.78) | 45.9 | 41.5 | 12.6 |
Reading | 3.70 (0.67) | 3.1 | 30.0 | 66.9 | 3.16 (0.66) | 10.7 | 61.9 | 27.4 |
Watching television | 3.93 (0.64) | 1.4 | 18.9 | 79.6 | 3.83 (0.63) | 1.2 | 25.6 | 73.2 |
(Voluntary) work | 1.81 (0.69) | 86.5 | 12.3 | 1.2 | 2.16 (0.70) | 70.1 | 28.3 | 1.6 |
Grocery shopping | 2.18 (0.68) | 71.8 | 25.8 | 2.4 | 2.23 (0.65) | 67.5 | 31.2 | 1.4 |
Shopping | 1.76 (0.67) | 89.2 | 9.7 | 1.2 | 1.94 (0.67) | 82.6 | 16.4 | 1.0 |
Sports | 1.94 (0.70) | 82.9 | 15.2 | 1.9 | 2.10 (0.67) | 75.1 | 23.5 | 1.4 |
Self-reliance †† | ||||||||
Maintaining social contact | 2.24 (0.75) | 72.2 | 22.2 | 5.6 | 2.39 (0.73) | 61.6 | 31.7 | 6.7 |
Mental health | 2.22 (0.75) | 75.0 | 18.3 | 6.7 | 2.30 (0.74) | 68.0 | 25.2 | 6.8 |
Personal care | 2.82 (0.59) | 21.7 | 72.9 | 5.4 | 2.86 (0.51) | 17.8 | 77.7 | 4.5 |
Housekeeping | 2.65 (0.68) | 37.2 | 57.1 | 5.8 | 2.77 (0.60) | 28.2 | 66.0 | 5.8 |
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Dekker, M.R.; Frielink, N.; Hendriks, A.H.C.; Embregts, P.J.C.M. The General Public’s Perceptions of How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted the Elderly and Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 2855. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052855
Dekker MR, Frielink N, Hendriks AHC, Embregts PJCM. The General Public’s Perceptions of How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted the Elderly and Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(5):2855. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052855
Chicago/Turabian StyleDekker, Maria R., Noud Frielink, Alexander H. C. Hendriks, and Petri J. C. M. Embregts. 2022. "The General Public’s Perceptions of How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted the Elderly and Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 5: 2855. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052855