Publication:

Depression, self-esteem disorders and emotional distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in the elderly population of Mexico City and the metropolitan area of the valley of Mexico (a preliminary study)

Background SARS-CoV-2 has spread over the world and caused concern and panic in the elderly, which can promote the development of mental illness. The main aim of this study was to identify depression and self-esteem disorders in the elderly population of Mexico City and the metropolitan area of the valley of Mexico in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods A non-experimental, observational, cross-sectional, correlational and descriptive study was conducted via means of a survey distributed and applied via telephone and online using Google Forms among the elderly via snowball sampling. Data was analysed in Microsoft Excel and bivariate analysis was performed using Chi squared test with a statistical significance of p≤0.05.

Results The sample was conformed by 175 participants, 115 were female and 60 were male. 4.35% of women and 1.67% of men showed depression and 16.52% of women and 10% of men had mild symptoms of depression while 6.69% of women and 1.67% of men showed symptoms indicative of low self-esteem and 14.78% of women and 10% of men showed normal self-esteem. Women recorded higher levels of depression (p ≤ 0.01) and men recorded lower levels of self-esteem (p≤0.01). Participants with diabetes showed lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of depression in comparison to people without diabetes (p≤0.05).

Conclusions It is suggested in making use of the technologies that have emerged to do telemedicine and to keep in touch with patients. This is a preliminary study; future research should be done on a larger sample.