Effects of Social Isolation on Quality of Life in Elderly Adults in South Carolina comparing pre-isolation data collected prior to pandemic lockdown and follow-up surveys completed once social isolation started between April 20 and May 20, 2020

Data were collected from all participants at two different time points. Pre-isolation data were collected from participants between the dates of September 10, 2019 and April 6, 2020. Follow-up surveys were all completed once social isolation started between April 20 and May 20, 2020, with the majority (90%, N = 56) of participant surveys being completed between May 4 and May 10, 2020. Questionnaires were administered using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDcap) hosted at the University of South Carolina online, or by mail, if requested. In addition to providing basic demographic data, participants completed a number of qualitative and quantitative measures prior to and following social isolation. Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI®) was used to measure changes in overall perceived quality of life, as well as changes in four factors of quality of life, achievement (QOLIACH), self-expression (QOLISEP), relationships (QOLIREL) and surroundings (QOLISUR) identified in earlier research. Total QOLI scores prior to isolation (QOLITOTPRE) as well as QOLI scores post isolation (QOLITOTPOST) were used to calculate a difference score (QOLITOTDIFF) representing the change from pre to post assessment (i.e. QOLIPOST - QOLIPRE). Longitudinal changes in the four QOLI factors (QOLIACHDIFF, QOLISEPDIFF, QOLIRELDIFF and QOLISURDIF) were calculated in the same way (post - pre). Thus, QOLITOTDIFFscores which were negative, represented longitudinal declines in QOLI, whereas QOLITOTDIFF difference scores which were positive represented longitudinal increases in QOLI. The extent to which participants were engaging in physical activity at both timepoints was assessed using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE). Physical and mental health, as represented by the physical and mental health summary scores, were assessed using the PROMIS®-29 Profile V20. For the PACE, physical and mental health scales, we used both pre-isolation scores (PACETOTPRE, PROMISPHTOTPRE, PROMISMHTOTPRE) and difference scores (PACETOTDIFF, PROMISPHTOTDIFF, PROMISTOTDIFF, calculated as post-pre scores) in our analysis. Participants also filled out relevant PROMIS-29 subscales, including the social isolation, emotional support, ability to participate and instrumental support subscales. Finally, the 3-Item Loneliness Scale provided a measure of feelings of loneliness, a construct distinct from – but related to – feelings of social isolation. For all quantitative measures, except the loneliness scale, higher numbers were considered to be better. Correlations were computed using the R software Package for a Fast Calculation to Semi-partial Correlation Coefficients Communications for Statistical Application and Methods. <br> Aging Brain Cohort at UofSC: https://abc.sc.edu Newman-Norlund, R.D., Newman-Norlund, S.E., Sayers, S., Nemati, S., Riccardi, N., Rorden, C., Fridriksson, J. 2021. “The Aging Brain Cohort (ABC) Repository: The University of South Carolina’s Multimodal Lifespan Database for Studying the Relationship between the Brain, Cognition, Genetics and Behavior in Healthy Aging.” <em>NeuroImage Reports</em>.Newman-Norlund, R.D., Newman-Norlund, S.E., Sayers, S., Nemati, S., Riccardi, N., Rorden, C., Fridriksson, J. 2021. “The Aging Brain Cohort (ABC) Repository: The University of South Carolina’s Multimodal Lifespan Database for Studying the Relationship between the Brain, Cognition, Genetics and Behavior in Healthy Aging.” <em>NeuroImage Reports</em>. <br> QOLI: Frisch, M.B. (2014). Quality-of-Life-Inventory. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_2371 <br> QOLI subdomains: O'Cleirigh, C., &amp; Safren, S. A. (2006). Domains of life satisfaction among patients living with HIV: A factor analytic study of the quality of life inventory. <em>AIDS and behavior</em>, <em>10</em>(1), 53–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-005-9027-9 <br> PASE: Logan, S. L., Gottlieb, B. H., Maitland, S. B., Meegan, D., &amp; Spriet, L. L. (2013). The Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) questionnaire; does it predict physical health?. <em>International journal of environmental research and public health</em>, <em>10</em>(9), 3967–3986. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10093967 <br> PROMIS 29 Profile V 20: Cella, D., Riley, W., Stone, A., Rothrock, N., Reeve, B., Yount, S., Amtmann, D., Bode, R., Buysse, D., Choi, S., Cook, K., Devellis, R., DeWalt, D., Fries, J. F., Gershon, R., Hahn, E. A., Lai, J. S., Pilkonis, P., Revicki, D., Rose, M., … PROMIS Cooperative Group (2010). The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) developed and tested its first wave of adult self-reported health outcome item banks: 2005-2008. <em>Journal of clinical epidemiology</em>, <em>63</em>(11), 1179–1194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.04.011 <br> <br> <br> <br>