Aging, Infection and Mobility (AIM): Using wearable technology to understand the long-term functional impact of COVID-19 in community-living older people

Many Canadians are still experiencing post-COVID conditions that affect their daily lives long after the initial infection. This is especially complicated for older adults with existing health problems and those from disadvantaged communities where there is a higher risk of COVID-19. Mobility is a key factor in healthy aging and disease prevention, and it is likely impacted by common symptoms of post-COVID conditions (e.g., fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness). Still, mobility has yet to be adequately addressed in research studying the long-term impacts of COVID-19. The Aging, Infection, and Mobility (AIM) project seeks to determine why some people develop post-COVID conditions, and others do not, and to examine the long-term effects of COVID-19 on functional outcomes in older people. The project will build on an existing aging and wearable technology study of over 1200 older adults from Hamilton and Toronto, including those from low-income areas. Participants will contact the research team within 5 days of developing symptoms of infection and undergo rapid COVID-19 testing. The study will include telephone-administered questionnaires, post-infection interviews, and regular follow-ups, including mobility monitoring using a smartwatch (e.g., step counts, location via GPS), and in-person assessments of physical, mental, and social health over 2 years. Our goal is to understand the risk factors and long-term impacts of COVID-19 in older adults and marginalized seniors. We will also examine the impact of recurrent infections and vaccination on recovery from COVID-19 and the health of older adults. The results of this study will answer critical questions about long-term effects of COVID-19 on the health and functioning of our aging population. We hope to use this information to improve policies, services, and supports to help older adults recover from COVID-19 and other respiratory infections that affect mobility.