Cross-national prevalence of mental disorders in older adults exposed to COVID-19 information

to verify the association between exposure to COVID-19 news and information through social networks, television and radio, as well as to screen for geriatric anxiety and depression comparing Peru, Brazil and Mexico.

a cross-sectional design, web-based survey with non-probability sampling and validated scales to screen for geriatric anxiety and depression, as well as data analysis by hierarchical binary logistic regression.

there was prevalence of female gender (n=4,937; 61.9%), non-white race/skin color (n=4,724; 59.2%) and age group of 60 to 64 years old (n=2,584; 32.4%) among the 7,976 participants. COVID-19 news and information were accessed through television (n=6,187;77.6%), a few or some times a week (n=4,322, 54.2%) and for at least three hours (n=2,596; 32.5%). In the final models and both for anxiety and for depression, the significant differences (p-value<0.001) for the "use", "exposure frequency" and "exposure hours" aspects changed depending on the media. The prevalence of the outcomes in the three countries was low.

frequent exposure to media was associated with higher prevalence of geriatric anxiety and depression, although the difference across the countries under study was small.

(1) The variables associated with the outcomes indicate consumption of news and information.

(2) Media exposure frequency and time matter for screening.

(3) The prevalence of the outcomes when comparing all three countries was small.

(4) Screening was 42.6% for anxiety and 59.4% for depression.

(5) Media consumption was 77.6% television, 46.6% social media and 42.7% radio.