[We were told "everything will be all right", but we were afraid].

Abstract

. We were told "everything will be all right", but we were afraid.

Introduction: During the pandemic, the elderly were an at-risk group.

Objective: To explore how older people >65 years lived through the pandemic.

Methods: Questionnaire available online for all members of the Italian Pensioners' Union of the CGL Lombardy, which explored the state of health, activities carried out, contacts with the doctor, psychological conditions.

Results: 1480 people responded, in good health and with a good level of schooling. Half did not change their habits during the pandemic. For 2/3 the psychological well-being did not change, with a substantially positive vision of the future, even if 64% reported having had stress symptoms. The aspect that was missing the most, as expected, was not being able to see their families. A very common feeling (60% of respondents) was a sense of isolation and abandonment.

Conclusions: As shown in other papers, older people do not seem particularly at risk of psychological problems during the pandemic.