By TOKIKO TSUJI/ Senior Staff Writer
April 8, 2021 at 07:00 JST
Elderly people work out at a day care service center before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They now have fewer opportunities to exercise outside their homes. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The cognitive functions of roughly 27 percent of elderly people in November were down from levels before the COVID-19 pandemic, a likely result of inactivity and being stuck at home, a research team found.
The figure was 2.1 times the 13 percent recorded in the previous survey conducted in May last year.
The team, led by Shinya Kuno, a professor of health policy at the University of Tsukuba, studied the impact on senior citizens from staying at home during the pandemic.
The researchers mailed questionnaires to around 4,700 people aged 60 or older who live in five cities and towns in Hokkaido as well as in Saitama, Kyoto and other prefectures.
They were asked to choose from multiple responses to each question.
The queries included how frequently they went on outings or exercised, as well as the extent of their memory loss as of November, compared with the period up until January 2020, before the novel coronavirus began spreading in Japan.
An analysis of their responses found that about 1,300 respondents, or about 27 percent, had a decline in their cognitive functions, such as comprehension and judgment, from pre-pandemic levels.
Kuno pointed out that most elderly people have yet to become as active as they were before the pandemic, even after the nation’s first COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in spring last year.
He believes that a lack of exercise and fewer conversations with others reduced the stimulation for senior citizens’ brains, taking a toll on their mental and physical well-being.
Kuno said a more concerning matter is the impact of the third wave of infections that hit the country from autumn through winter.
“I’m worried that more elderly people may be deemed in need of nursing care from this spring,” Kuno said. “We need to find a way to continue offering them opportunities to engage in community activities while taking precautions against infections.”
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