Associations of cognitive impairment with self-isolation and access to health and care during the COVID-19 pandemic in England

Data

Our project used data collected before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)²⁷. ELSA follows a representative sample of people aged 50+ across England since 2002, asking about topics including health, wellbeing, finances, and social connections.

Critical to this analysis was the COVID-19 sub-study conducted as part of ELSA in 2020²⁸. A direct and rapid response to the pandemic, ELSA members and their partners provided responses to two special surveys conducted in June/July and November/December 2020, capturing their perspectives during the pandemic. Retrospective data were also collected, e.g. about experiences in April 2020, providing three time points of data for most respondents on some key questions.

In prior waves of ELSA, responses were collected via computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI). In contrast, the…