[Depressive Symptoms in Healthcare Workers Two Years After the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bogotá, Colombia]. / Síntomas depresivos en trabajadores de la salud dos años después del inicio de la pandemia COVID-19 en Bogotá, Colombia.

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, different events arose worldwide, including the impact on the mental health of health personnel. Our main aim was to determine the association between sociodemographic, clinical, tobacco and alcohol abuse, and fear of COVID-19 variables with the presence of depressive symptoms in a healthcare facility, in Bogotá DC, in 2022. Materials and methods: Analytical cross-sectional study. Sociodemographic and clinical variables, alcohol and tobacco abuse, and fear of COVID-19 were explored. The presence and severity of depressive symptoms were evaluated with the PHQ-9 scale. Descriptive analysis and chi-square tests were performed. Statistically significant variables (P < .05) were entered into a logistic regression model with depressive symptoms as the dependent variable. Results: 597 people were included, 80% female. The median age was 34 years (Interquartile Range [IQR]: 28-41. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 12.4% (95% CI: 9,74-15,05). The multivariate analysis showed that fear of COVID-19, tobacco use, age under 28, and middle socioeconomic status were the factors that best explained the presence of depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Two years after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the prevalence of depressive symptoms is 12.4%. It is necessary to carry out strategies to promote mental health in health professionals.

[Depressive Symptoms in Healthcare Workers Two Years After the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bogotá, Colombia]. / Síntomas depresivos en trabajadores de la salud dos años después del inicio de la pandemia COVID-19 en Bogotá, Colombia.

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, different events arose worldwide, including the impact on the mental health of health personnel. Our main aim was to determine the association between sociodemographic, clinical, tobacco and alcohol abuse, and fear of COVID-19 variables with the presence of depressive symptoms in a healthcare facility, in Bogotá DC, in 2022. Materials and methods: Analytical cross-sectional study. Sociodemographic and clinical variables, alcohol and tobacco abuse, and fear of COVID-19 were explored. The presence and severity of depressive symptoms were evaluated with the PHQ-9 scale. Descriptive analysis and chi-square tests were performed. Statistically significant variables (P < .05) were entered into a logistic regression model with depressive symptoms as the dependent variable. Results: 597 people were included, 80% female. The median age was 34 years (Interquartile Range [IQR]: 28-41. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 12.4% (95% CI: 9,74-15,05). The multivariate analysis showed that fear of COVID-19, tobacco use, age under 28, and middle socioeconomic status were the factors that best explained the presence of depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Two years after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the prevalence of depressive symptoms is 12.4%. It is necessary to carry out strategies to promote mental health in health professionals.

SÍNTOMAS DEPRESIVOS EN TRABAJADORES DE LA SALUD DOS AÑOS DESPUÉS DEL INICIO DE LA PANDEMIA COVID-19 EN BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN HEALTHCARE WORKERS TWO YEARS AFTER THE START OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA

Introducción: Con el advenimiento de la pandemia por COVID-19, surgieron diferentes acontecimientos a nivel mundial, entre ellos la afectación de la salud mental del personal sanitario. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la asociación entre variables sociodemográficas, clínicas, de consumo de tabaco y alcohol y miedo al COVID-19 con la aparición de síntomas de depresión en una Institución Prestadora de Servicios de Salud (IPS), en Bogotá DC, en 2022. Métodos: Estudio transversal analítico, se exploraron variables sociodemográficas, clínicas, consumo de alcohol, tabaco, miedo al COVID-19. La presencia y gravedad de los síntomas depresivos se evaluó con la escala PHQ-9, se realizó un análisis descriptivo de las variables independientes, se realizaron pruebas de chi cuadrado y se consideró un valor p<0.05 como estadísticamente significativo. Las variables que resultaron estadísticamente significativas fueron ingresadas a un modelo de regresión logística con "síntomas depresivos” como variable dependiente. Resultados: Se incluyeron 597 personas (80% mujeres), con una edad mediana de 34 años (RIC 28-41). La prevalencia de síntomas depresivos fue 12.4% (IC95%=9,74-15,05). El análisis multivariado mostró que los factores que mejor explicaron la presencia de síntomas depresivos fueron: miedo al COVID-19, consumo de tabaco, edad menor a 28 años, estrato socioeconómico medio. Conclusiones: A dos años de que el COVID-19 fuera declarado una pandemia, la prevalencia de síntomas depresivos es del 12.4%. Se requiere implementar estrategias en pro la salud mental de los profesionales sanitarios.

The grief experience during the COVID-19 pandemic across different cultures.

Grief is the physical or mental suffering experienced after a major loss, usually the death of a loved one. It is a universal experience, but sociocultural factors, such as cultural or ethnic identity and religious beliefs predict and shape the expression of grief. The circumstances under which people are experiencing grief during the coronavirus outbreak have adversely affected the grieving process. Unexpected deaths, social distancing rules and visitor restrictions in healthcare facilities have posed a heavier burden on the loss and have heightened the risk of grievers experiencing complicated or persistent grief. This concern led us, as early career psychiatrists (ECPs) from 14 different countries connected by the Early Career Psychiatrists Section of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), to share our country-specific experiences on the mourning, grief tradition, and burial rites during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we discuss our experiences, similarities and differences with relation to the: 'Effect of the pandemic on mourning', 'Restrictions and Guideline on burial rites due to the pandemic', 'Effect of the pandemic on social support' and 'Role of media and telecommunication on mourning practices and burial rites'. We conclude that while telecommunication means have attempted to bridge the gap and provide some form of social connectedness, the total and global effect of the pandemic is yet to be fully seen and understood.

Emerging Psychiatric Themes in Post-COVID-19 Patients on a Psychiatry Consultation-liaison Service.

The need for consultation-liaison psychiatry on COVID-19 wards has substantially increased since the start of the pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to summarize the characteristics of patients admitted to the post-COVID-19 ward of the American University of Beirut Medical Center who received a psychiatric consultation. We collected relevant sociodemographic and medical data, information about past psychiatric history, psychiatry consultation details, hospital course, and disposition outcome. We also conducted chi-square and binary logistic regression analyses to assess the association between the different variables and disposition outcome. A total of 52 patients (mean age 57.33 years; equal gender distribution) were seen by the psychiatry consult-liaison team. Most had medical comorbidities and 21.2% required intubation. The most prevalent psychiatric diagnoses were delirium (30.8%), major depressive episode (15.4%), and other anxiety disorder (15.4%). Pharmacological management was implemented in 90.4% of cases and mainly included second-generation antipsychotics (36.5%). Non-pharmacological interventions consisted of those related to delirium and therapy for anxiety. Only intubation was significantly associated with disposition outcome (p = 0.004). This study highlights the various psychiatric themes emerging during the acute and post-acute periods of hospitalization for COVID-19. Hospitalized individuals recovering from the infection should be diligently screened and referred to the psychiatry consultation-liaison team to ensure the implementation of appropriate interventions.

COVID-19 related mental health issues: a narrative review of psychometric properties of scales and methodological concerns in scale development.

OBJECTIVES: The global crisis of COVID-19 and its consequential strict public health measures placed around the world have impacted mental health. New scales and tools have been developed to measure these mental health effects. This narrative review assesses the psychometric properties of these scales and tools and methodological aspects of their development. METHODS: PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar were searched for articles published from 15 May 2020 to 15 August 2020. This search used three groups of terms ("tool" OR "scale" AND "mental" OR "psychological"; AND "COVID-19" OR "coronavirus"). The identified scales were further evaluated for their psychometric properties and methodological aspects of their development. RESULTS: Though the studies developing these scales (n = 12) have demonstrated their robust psychometric properties, some methodological concerns are noteworthy. Most of the scales were validated using internet-based surveys, and detailed descriptions of the mode of administration, sampling process, response rates, and augmentation strategies were missing. CONCLUSIONS: The heterogeneous and inadequate reporting of methods adopted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the identified scales can limit their utility in clinical and research settings. We suggest developing guidelines and checklists to improve the design and testing, and result in reporting of online-administered scales to assess the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 mental health care toolkit: an international collaborative effort by Early Career Psychiatrists section.

The collaborative effort of an international research team from the Early Career Psychiatrists section of the World Psychiatry Association has brought about an easy-to-use, quick and stepwise mental health care toolkit for the identification and appropriate referral of those in need of mental health care during the pandemic. This simple guide can be applied in the general outpatient setting and is catered for all healthcare professionals, regardless of their expertise within the mental health field with minimal training. It is our hope that by incorporating this toolkit into our daily clinical care during the pandemic for high-risk patients and patients with non-specific complaints, we will be able to bridge the mental health gap present in our society.

Telepsychiatry During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of a Protocol for Telemental Health Care.

BACKGROUND: The rapid spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has forced most countries to take drastic public health measures, including the closure of most mental health outpatient services and some inpatient units. This has suddenly created the need to adapt and expand telepsychiatry care across the world. However, not all health care services might be ready to cope with this public health demand. The present study was set to create a practical and clinically useful protocol for telemental health care to be applied in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A panel of psychiatrists from 15 different countries [covering all World Health Organization (WHO) regions] was convened. The panel used a combination of reactive Delphi technique and consensus development conference strategies to develop a protocol for the provision of telemental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: The proposed protocol describes a semi-structured initial assessment and a series of potential interventions matching mild, moderate, or high-intensity needs of target populations. CONCLUSIONS: Telemedicine has become a pivotal tool in the task of ensuring the continuous provision of mental health care for the population, and the outlined protocol can assist with this task. The strength of this protocol lies in its practicality, clinical usefulness, and wide transferability, resulting from the diversity of the consensus group that developed it. Developed by psychiatrists from around the globe, the proposed protocol may prove helpful for many clinical and cultural contexts, assisting mental health care providers worldwide.