Depression Rates Among Adults With Decreased Mobility During COVID-19 Examined

According to recent findings published online in JAMA Network Open, researchers observed higher depressive symptoms among adults with diminished community mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To better understand the rates of depression among this patient population, a survey study was conducted in the United States aimed to investigate the connection between reduced community mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic and self-reported depressive symptoms among adults. The study involved 192,271 participants and spanned from May 2020 to April 2022. The researchers sought to understand whether living in a region with limited mobility was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms, while taking into account potential local and state-level confounding factors.

“In line with a recent US Surgeon General report on the impact of loneliness and isolation, we sought to understand whether individuals residing in communities with diminished social interaction experienced greater levels of depression, using data from a large cohort of adults in the United States reflective of national population distributions of age, gender, race and ethnicity, and geography,” explained the research team. “We elected to focus on community mobility, rather than participant mobility, as this measure is exogenous to the individual (ie, diminishes the potential for reverse causation in which depressive symptoms are manifest in part as diminished mobility).”

The findings of this study indicated a noteworthy link between decreased community mobility and higher levels of self-reported depression among the respondents. This association was not solely linked to COVID-19 restrictions, county-level COVID-19 cases or deaths, weather conditions, or county-level economic factors. Importantly, the connection persisted even after the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines.

The research showed that individuals residing in areas where fewer people left their homes on a daily basis during the pandemic reported elevated levels of depression on average. This insight is particularly significant given the heightened levels of depressive symptoms witnessed during the pandemic compared to historical norms. Understanding this relationship is crucial for informing future public health planning for pandemics or other disasters.

The survey included diverse demographics, with participants aged, on average, 43.1 years. Most respondents identified as White, but there was a representation of various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, the majority were female, accounting for 65.7% of the participants.

The study employed a mixed-effects linear regression model to analyze the data. The results of this analysis demonstrated that the proportion of individuals within a county who did not leave their homes was positively associated with increased depression symptoms, even after adjusting for individual sociodemographic characteristics. This finding underscores the significance of reduced community mobility as a contributing factor to depressive symptoms.

The research also explored potential contributing factors to depressive symptoms. State-level pandemic restrictions, such as mandatory mask-wearing in public and the cancellation of public events, were found to have modest independent associations with the severity of depressive symptoms. This suggests that specific policies implemented during the pandemic may have had an impact on mental health outcomes.

Of note, these findings have significant implications for public health planning during future pandemics or crises, emphasizing the importance of balancing necessary restrictions with the maintenance of social interaction and mobility to safeguard mental well-being. Strategies to understand and address the public health consequences of pandemic responses are of utmost importance for improving the overall well-being of the population in times of crisis.

In conclusion, this study highlights a concerning association between diminished community mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic and elevated levels of depression among US adults. Importantly, this relationship was not solely due to pandemic restrictions, COVID-19 statistics, or other external factors. The persistence of this connection even after vaccination became widely available underscores the need for further investigation into the causal relationships and potential ways to mitigate the impact of policies that restrict social interaction and movement.

“In this survey study, we found that depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with an element of local environment, namely the extent to which people in a community leave home,” researchers concluded.

“Neither COVID-19–related restrictions nor recent COVID-19 activity explained this association. While we cannot determine causation, the potential importance of interventions aimed at increasing social engagement during times of limited mobility merits consideration for future pandemics or other long-lasting disasters.”

Reference:

Perlis RH, Lunz Trujillo K, Safarpour A, et al. Community Mobility and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(9):e2334945. Published 2023 Sep 5. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.34945

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