Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily life, mood, and behavior of adults with Down syndrome.
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Authors
Cohen, Annie
Ances, Beau M
Yassa, Michael A
Brickman, Adam M
Handen, Benjamin L
Head, Elizabeth
Mapstone, Mark
Christian, Bradley T
Lott, Ira T
Doran, Eric
Zaman, Shahid
Krinsky-McHale, Sharon
Schmitt, Fredrick A
Hom, Christy
Schupf, Nicole
ABC-DS Group
Publication Date
2022-07Journal Title
Disabil Health J
ISSN
1936-6574
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Hartley, S. L., Fleming, V., Piro-Gambetti, B., Cohen, A., Ances, B. M., Yassa, M. A., Brickman, A. M., et al. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily life, mood, and behavior of adults with Down syndrome.. Disabil Health J https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101278
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Down syndrome population has been disproportionately affected by Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in terms of experiencing severe illness and death. Societal efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 may also have taken a heavy toll on the daily lives of individuals with Down syndrome. OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS: The goal of the study was to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered daily life (including residence, employment, and participation in adult disability day programs) and influenced the mood and behavior of adults with Down syndrome. METHODS: Between September 2020 and February 2021, caregivers of 171 adults with Down syndrome (aged 22-66 years) located across the United States and in the United Kingdom enrolled in the Alzheimer's Biomarker Research Consortium on Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) completed a survey. RESULTS: The residence of 17% of individuals was altered, and 89% of those who had been employed stopped working during the pandemic. One-third (33%) of individuals were reported to be more irritable or easily angered, 52% were reported to be more anxious, and 41% were reported to be more sad/depressed/unhappy relative to prepandemic. The majority of changes in mood and behavior were of modest severity. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread effects on the daily life and mood and behavior of adults with Down syndrome. In the short term, caregivers and providers should be prepared to help adults with Down syndrome with changes in daily routines, residence, employment, or adult disability day programs as society shifts away from COVID-19 safety protocols.
Keywords
Coronavirus, Down syndrome, Pandemic, Daily Life, Mood, Covid
Identifiers
35256308, PMC8849846
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101278
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335939
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