Older adults are coping better emotionally during the Covid-19 pandemic

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⇒ Issue #82 (In numerology 82 brings energy related to material accumulation, business, and finance.)

⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 07/24: 114,398*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 07/24: 8,919*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 07/24: 15,526,057*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 07/24: 633,656*

July 24, 2020—Good morning from Chronicle assistant editor Dhiren Mahiban, here to wrap-up another work-from-home week with the Friday edition of the Daily CurveFlattener. 

A study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia shows adults 60 and older have fared better emotionally compared to young adults (18-39) and middle-aged adults (40-59) during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Photo credit: Abdulsalam Haykal

Published in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences  (July 17, 2020) researchers collected daily diary data between mid-March and mid-April of this year and found older adults experienced greater emotional well-being and felt less stressed and threatened by the pandemic.

The study's investigators analyzed data from 776 participants between the age of 18 and 91 who lived in Canada and the U.S. that completed daily surveys for one week about their stressors, positive events, and emotional well-being during the first several weeks of the pandemic.

The authors noted the time period was selected since it was likely to be the period of greatest disruption and uncertainty as local, provincial and state governments began issuing stay-at-home orders.

"Our findings provide new evidence that older adults are emotionally resilient despite public discourse often portraying their vulnerability," said Patrick Klaiber in a press release. Klaiber is the study's lead author and a graduate student at UBC's department of psychology. "We also found that younger adults are at great risk for loneliness and psychological distress during this pandemic."

Klaiber suggested the difference in reported stress levels may be a result of age-related stressors and how well the different age groups respond to stress.

Research also showed older and middle-aged adults experienced more daily positive events—such as remote positive social interactions—in 75 per cent of their daily surveys which helped increase positive emotions compared to younger adults.

"While positive events led to increases in positive emotions for all three age groups, younger adults had the least positive events but also benefitted the most from them," Klaiber explained. "This is a good reminder for young adults to create more opportunities for physically-distanced or remote positive experiences as a way of mitigating distress during the pandemic."

COVID CHRONICLE 07/24/2020

• A study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (July 16, 2020), and reported on by Reuters, found people were more likely to contract Covid-19 from members of their own households than from contacts outside their home.  The study looked at 5, 706 patients who tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who came into contact with them. Results showed less than 2 per cent of patients' non-household contacts caught the virus while nearly 12 per cent of patients' household contacts were infected.
• While at-home Covid-19 testing kits were first approved for use in the U.S. in April, there is currently no Canadian equivalent because of safety concerns, according to a Global News story (July 21, 2020). Global notes Health Canada suggests that without the guidance of a healthcare professional, there is a significant risk that someone may use the home test kit improperly or misinterpret the results.

• According to an article published in the American Roentgen Ray Society's (AARS) American Journal of Roentgenology (July 23, 2020), lung ultrasound was highly sensitive for detecting abnormalities in patients with Covid-19, with B-lines, a thickened pleural line, and pulmonary consolidation the most commonly observed features. The study's authors also found that lung ultrasound features can be used to reflect both the inflection duration and disease severity.  

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

For an upcoming issue of The Chronicle of Skin & Allergy, I spoke with the newly appointed President of the Canadian Dermatology Association, Dr. Jason Rivers, about teledermatology, diversity in dermatology, and the challenges presented by Covid-19. 

THIS WEEKEND WE'RE WATCHING...

We're catching up on season five of the Showtime series Billions. The drama follows U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) as he goes after hedge fund king Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) in a battle between two powerful New York figures.

LATER WE'RE READING...

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. The book chronicles Noah's unlikely path from South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show.

TONIGHT WE'RE EATING... 

Friday night calls for some takeout. We're ordering pizza from Defina.

AND HOW ARE YOU DOING?

Please make use of the comments section at the Daily CurveFlattener, to let us know what you're up to today. Or feel free to check in via LinkedIn, email, or your choice of connector. By all means, pass this newsletter along to your colleagues.

That wraps up another work-from-home week. Stay in touch, and have a safe weekend. My colleague Jeremy Visser will back on Monday with the next edition of the Daily CurveFlattener.