Covid19. A study by the Toulouse University Hospital demonstrates the effects of confinement on health
Through Lucie Fraisse
Published on
It was almost two years ago and it already seemed like a distant past. On March 16, 2020, the President of the Republic took the floor to announce the first confinement in order to covid-19 spread limiter. Nurseries, schools, colleges, universities are closing their doors, as are businesses deemed “non-essential”. Travel is greatly reduced, outdoor gatherings, family and friendly reunions are no longer allowed. It is also soon the appearance of the travel certificate, necessary to go out beyond a radius of one kilometer around your home.
A recently published study
A confinement that will last a month and 25 days on which a team of researchers from Toulouse decides to consider itself. The results of this study conducted by the cardiovascular epidemiology teams of the Cardiology Federation, the Epidemiology Department and the Methodological Research Support Unit from Toulouse University Hospital and Inserm have just been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
“We woke up very quickly after the announcement of confinement, explains Professor Jean Ferrières, who oversaw the study. Establishing containment as was done in the Middle Ages was an unprecedented situation in contemporary medicine. We figured that it wasn’t going to cause only good things. »
534 people interviewed
As part of another study related to cardiovascular risks, the team had already met patients from Haute-Garonne. Who were all solicited by telephone to participate in this new study. “They were all very helpful, it helped us a lot,” says Professor Ferrières.
A representative group, made up of 534 people people aged 50 to 89 thus lends itself to the game. Economic level, family environment, cardiovascular risk factors, lifestyle, confinement framework are thus scrutinized.
Questionnaires at six months then at one year
Participants must also answer questions about their tobacco or alcohol consumption, the number of minutes they devote to a sporting activity per week or the amount of time they spend in front of screens. Questions that will be asked again six months later, then a year later.
“From the first questionnaire on already had signs of deterioration. And over time, the evolution has been negative. The picture at one year is very bleak.”
Factors that increase cardiovascular risk
The researchers thus demonstrate that the confinement had significant consequences on health. Thus, while 65% of respondents say they have reduced their physical activity, 27% reported weight gain and 61% said they had a poorer quality diet. 12% say they have increased their medication use, and the smoking increased in 9% of participants. These are all factors that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Even more striking: 35% reported symptoms of depression and 35% anxiety symptoms.
“The damage of containment is not over”
“I expected these results for all the medical aspects, such as weight gain or the medicinal aspects, observes Jean Ferrières. For the psychological state, it’s a real surprise. For me it was not predictable: we thought that people are at home, they watch Netflix and they are fine. This was not the case. »
A deterioration in mental health that Professor Ferrières also noted among his healthcare colleagues but also in consultation. “There is an aggressiveness, a resentment, even today elsewhere. People are at their wit’s end. In my opinion, the damage of the containment is not over. »
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