Observational studyInternational journal of geriatric psychiatry2025
The Role of Social Media in Mitigating the Long-Term Impact of Social Isolation on Mental and Cognitive Health in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The HUNT Study.
Observational study in International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04792086 (The Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on the Health of Older Adults), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on the Health of Older Adults
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0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic increased social isolation in older adults, promoting mental and cognitive decline. The impact of social media on these effects remains unclear.
aimTo investigate the long-term association of social isolation with mental and cognitive health in older adults and whether social media use mitigated this association.
methodData from the Norwegian Trøndelag Health Study before (2017-2019), during (January 2021), and after the pandemic (2021-2023) were analysed (N = 4844, 53% women, mean age 80 years). Multi-adjusted mixed-effects linear regression estimated differences in changes in mental (CONOR-MHI) and cognitive (MoCA) health related to self-reported social isolation and social media use. Beta (β) represents differences in change in z-score of CONOR-MHI or MoCA.
resultsSocial isolation was associated with a steeper decline in mental health than no social isolation (β = 0.07, 95% CI 0.01, 0.13) but was not associated with change in cognitive health. Daily social media use was not related to change in mental health, whereas it was associated with a less steep cognitive decline than no social media use (< 1 h: β = 0.13, 95% CI 0.05, 0.20; ≥ 1 h: β = 0.10, 95% CI 0.01, 0.15). Stratified by social isolation, daily social media use < 1 h was related to a less steep cognitive decline than no social media use in both isolated (β = 0.15, 95% CI 0.02, 0.28) and non-isolated individuals (β = 0.13, 95% CI 0.03, 0.22).
conclusionIndividuals experiencing social isolation during the pandemic had a steeper decline in mental, but not cognitive health, compared to those not isolated. Social media use did not buffer the decline in mental health but was associated with less steep cognitive decline. The pandemic showed limits of relying solely on digital solutions for social contact.
trial registrationThe study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov 18.02.2021, with the identification number NCT04792086.
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