ArticleFamily practice2023
Impacts of the 2019/20 bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and mental health of older Australians: a cross-sectional survey.
Article in Family practice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Mental Health Impacts of Wildfire Exposure: A Scoping Review of the Quantitative Evidence.Current environmental health reports · 2026Article
- Perceived needs and priorities of older persons in humanitarian crises: A scoping review of literature.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Article
- Adapting epidemiological research through unexpected environmental events: COVID-19 and bushfires impacts on the administration of the PATH cohort study.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Climate Change and Aging: Implications for Psychiatric Care.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- 2023 Wildfires in Canada: Living in Wildfire Regions in Alberta and Nova Scotia Doubled the Odds for Residents to Experience Likely Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Pandemic impacts and experiences after disaster in Australia: qualitative study of compound impacts following the Black Summer bushfires.BJPsych open · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn 2019/20 major bushfires devastated Australia's East Coast. Shortly afterward the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. Older people are disproportionately affected by disasters and are at high risk from respiratory pandemics. However, little is known about how these events impact on older peoples' health and well-being and engagement with services such as primary care.
objectiveTo explore the health impacts of the 2019/20 bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic on older Australians' health and well-being.
methodsOne hundred and fifty-five people aged over 65 years living in South-eastern New South Wales, Australia participated in an online survey. The survey measured the impacts of the bushfires and COVID-19 on physical and mental health and the capacity of older people to manage these impacts.
resultsMost respondents felt that the bushfires caused them to feel anxious/worried (86.2%) and negatively affected their physical (59.9%) and mental (57.2%) health. While many participants had similar feelings about COVID-19, significantly fewer felt these physical and mental health impacts than from the bushfires. A significantly greater perceived level of impact was observed for females and those with health problems. More respondents described negative mental health than physical health effects. Those who felt more impacted by the events had lower levels of resilience, social connection and support, and self-rated health.
conclusionThe health impacts identified in this study represent an opportunity for primary care to intervene to both ensure that people with support needs are identified and provided timely support and that older people are prepared for future disasters.
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