Infodemic in COVID-19 and its relationship with stress, depression, and anxiety in the elderly.

OBJECTIVE

to analyze the phenomenon of the infodemic in COVID-19 and its relation with stress, depression, and anxiety in the elderly.

METHOD: quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional study. Non-probabilistic sample of 195 elderly people, who answered a questionnaire for Infodemic, Perceived Stress Scale, Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale, and Generalized Anxiety Scale through a telephone and/or online self-administered survey. Before you accept informed consent, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The Ethics Committee approved the study.

RESULTS

the average age was 69 ± 6.2 years, and 58% were women. The average number of daily hours devoted to information was 5 ± 2.5, higher among men, with no significant differences between the sexes. Hours of infodemic were inversely related to mental health status, and the more hours of infodemic, the lower the level of stress, depression, and anxiety.

CONCLUSION

the infodemic does not necessarily hurt the mental health of the elderly. From a nursing perspective, it is essential to strengthen critical thinking, promote digital literacy, and support networks and safe spaces that enhance autonomy and confront disinformation.