Trang VoPham1,2, Holly R Harris1,2, Lesley F Tinker1, Jo Ann E Manson3, Jaymie R Meliker4, Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller5, Aladdin H Shadyab6, Nazmus Saquib7, Garnet L Anderson1, Sally A Shumaker8. 1. Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA. 2. Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA. 3. Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 4. Program in Public Health, Department of Family, Population, & Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA. 5. Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA. 6. Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. 7. Sulaiman Al Rajhi University, College of Medicine, Al Bukairiyah, Saudi Arabia. 8. Social Sciences & Health Policy, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis of which older adults are a high-risk group for severe illness and mortality. The objectives of this paper are to describe the methods and responses to a COVID-19 survey administered by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) to assess the impact of the pandemic on older women. METHODS: WHI is an ongoing prospective cohort study that recruited 161,808 postmenopausal women from 1993-1998. From June-October 2020, participants in active follow-up were surveyed by mail, phone, or online to assess health and well-being, living situations, lifestyle, health care, and self-reported COVID-19 testing, treatment, and preventive behaviors. RESULTS: Of 64,061 eligible participants, 49,695 (average age 83.6 years ± 5.6) completed the COVID-19 survey (response rate 77.6%). Many participants reported very good or good well-being (75.6%). Respondents reported being very concerned about the pandemic (51.1%) (more common in urban compared to rural areas), with 6.9% reporting disruptions in living arrangements and 9.7% reporting changes in medication access. Participants (54.4%) reported physical activity levels were much less or somewhat less compared to levels before the pandemic, and this was more pronounced in urban areas vs. rural areas (55.3% vs. 44.4%). Participants engaged in preventive behaviors including wearing a face mask (93.2%). A total of 18.9% reported testing for SARS-CoV-2, among whom 3.5% (n=311) reported testing positive. CONCLUSIONS: In this nationwide survey of older US women, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with impacts on health and well-being, living situations, lifestyle, health care access, and SARS-CoV-2 testing and preventive behaviors.
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis of which older adults are a high-risk group for severe illness and mortality. The objectives of this paper are to describe the methods and responses to a COVID-19 survey administered by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) to assess the impact of the pandemic on older women. METHODS: WHI is an ongoing prospective cohort study that recruited 161,808 postmenopausal women from 1993-1998. From June-October 2020, participants in active follow-up were surveyed by mail, phone, or online to assess health and well-being, living situations, lifestyle, health care, and self-reported COVID-19 testing, treatment, and preventive behaviors. RESULTS: Of 64,061 eligible participants, 49,695 (average age 83.6 years ± 5.6) completed the COVID-19 survey (response rate 77.6%). Many participants reported very good or good well-being (75.6%). Respondents reported being very concerned about the pandemic (51.1%) (more common in urban compared to rural areas), with 6.9% reporting disruptions in living arrangements and 9.7% reporting changes in medication access. Participants (54.4%) reported physical activity levels were much less or somewhat less compared to levels before the pandemic, and this was more pronounced in urban areas vs. rural areas (55.3% vs. 44.4%). Participants engaged in preventive behaviors including wearing a face mask (93.2%). A total of 18.9% reported testing for SARS-CoV-2, among whom 3.5% (n=311) reported testing positive. CONCLUSIONS: In this nationwide survey of older US women, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with impacts on health and well-being, living situations, lifestyle, health care access, and SARS-CoV-2 testing and preventive behaviors.