ABSTRACT
Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased rates of de-pression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Individuals with mental illnesses are disproportionately affected by additional complex health issues. This study aims to examine the knowledge and impact of COVID-19 among patients with mental disorders at the Harris County Psychiatric Center (HCPC). Method(s): A retrospective review of surveys was conducted for patients with mental illness at HCPC. Participants were surveyed on demographics, COVID-19 knowledge, and COVID-19 healthcare impact. The data were analyzed with SPSS 20 for Windows at a 0.05 significance level. Result(s): A total of 46 patients were included in the study. We found that the patient population with mental disorders has different methods of obtaining information regarding COVID-19 and practices varying safety measures. To be precise, more women (52.2%) than men (21.7%) learned about COVID-19 through family and friends (p=0.032). More Hispanic (21.4%) compared to non-Hispanic (0%) patients learned about COVID-19 through resources from the World Health Organization (WHO) (p=0.032). Fewer African American (AA) patients avoided contact with people who were sick (39% vs. 81%) Caucasian (p=0.01) and (100%) Asian/Native American/Pacific Islander [ANAPI] patients (p=0.04). We found more non-Hispanic (50.0%) vs. Hispanic (7.1%) patients reported that their personal time (time outside of work) was unchanged by COVID-19 (p=0.007). More Hispanic (57.1%) vs. non-Hispanic (17.9%) patients reported increased time with family members (p=0.009). Compared to Hispanic patients, more non-Hispanic patients reported unchanged difficulty scheduling appoint-ments (46.4% vs. 7.1%) (p=0.015), obtaining prescription (71.4% vs. 35.7%) (p=0.045), and finding housing placement (53.6% vs. 21.4%) (p=0.047). Furthermore, more Caucasian compared to AA patients reported more changes in how they feel (35.7% vs. 76.2%) (p=0.033), anxiety (52.6% vs. 0%) (p=0.002), stress (47.4% vs. 7.7%) (p=0.024), and sadness (30% vs. 0%) (p=0.031). Finally, more ANAPI (67%) compared to AA patients (0%) reported increased anxiety (p=0.025). Conclusion(s): Our findings suggest that African American patients report less knowledge of COVID-19 prevention and less impact on their mental health by the pandemic compared to other racial groups. Our findings suggest that African American patients may have limited knowledge of COVID-19 prevention compared to other races, Caucasian and Asian/Native American/Pacific Islander patients may have increased mood changes, and Hispanic patients may be experiencing more healthcare inequality amidst the pandemic. However, further inves-tigation of the impending ramifications of the pandemic is warranted.Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.