Video calls for reducing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a rapid review

• Published in: Cochrane database of systematic reviews 2020-05, Vol.5 (5), p.CD013632
• Main Authors: Noone, Chris, McSharry, Jenny, Smalle, Mike, Burns, Annette, Dwan, Kerry, Devane, Declan, Morrissey, Eimear C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; COVID-19; Depression - diagnosis; Homes for the Aged; Humans; Infectious disease; Loneliness - psychology; Mental health; Nursing Homes; Online Social Networking; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Public health; Quality of Life; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; SARS-CoV-2; Social Control, Informal - methods; Social Isolation - psychology
• ISSN: 1469-493X; 1469-493X
• DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd013632

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been identified as a possible trigger for increases in loneliness and social isolation among older people due to the restrictions on movement that many countries have put in place. Loneliness and social isolation are consistently identified as risk factors for poor mental and physical health in older people. Video calls may help older people stay connected during the current crisis by widening the participant's social circle or by increasing the frequency of contact with existing acquaintances. The primary objective of this rapid review is to assess the effectiveness of video calls for reducing social isolation and loneliness in older adults. The review also sought to address the effectiveness of video calls on reducing symptoms of depression and improving quality of life. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and CINAHL from 1 January 2004 to 7 April 2020. We also searched the references of relevant systematic reviews. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs (including cluster designs) were eligible for inclusion. We excluded all other study designs. The samples in included studies needed to have a mean age of at least 65 years. We included studies that included participants whether or not they were experiencing symptoms of loneliness or social isolation at baseline. Any intervention in which a core component involved the use of the internet to facilitate video calls or video conferencing through computers, smartphones or tablets with the intention of reducing loneliness or social isolation, or both, in older adults was eligible for inclusion. We included studies in the review if they reported self-report measures of loneliness, social isolation, symptoms of depression or quality of life.  Two review authors screened 25% of abstracts; a third review author resolved conflicts. A single review author screened the remaining abstracts. The second review author screened all excluded abstracts and we resolved conflicts by consensus or by involving a third review author. We followed the same process for full-text articles. One review author extracted data, which another review author checked. The primary outcomes were loneliness and social isolation and the secondary outcomes were symptoms of depression and quality of life. One review author rated the certainty of evidence for the primary outcomes according to the GRADE approach and another review author checked the ratings. We conducted fixed-effect meta-analyses fo