Telemental Health Assessment of Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Follow-up Study

Aim: This study aimed to understand how the pandemic has affected the mental health of adolescents with a previous psychiatric diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Fifty-nine patients aged 12-18 years who had been previously followed up in the adolescent mental health unit were included in this study. The participants were interviewed via telephone between June-July, 2020 and December, 2020-January 2021. Their sociodemographic data, psychiatric diagnoses and the previous Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scores were obtained from the patient files. The clinical global follow-up scale was scored by the interviewing physician. Results: Past CGI scores before the pandemic were significantly greater for those participants with more than one psychiatric condition (p=0.024). For those participants with more than one psychiatric condition, the difference between the CGI scores prior to the pandemic and during the early stages of the pandemic were significant (p=0.004). The total satisfaction scores for telepsychiatry services assessed via the telemedicine evaluation form were statistically higher for those participants with a single psychiatric disorder (p=0.023). The past and early pandemic CGI scores were found to be inversely correlated with the telemedicine evaluation form with r=-0.338, p=0.019, r=-0.353 p=0.014, respectively. Conclusion: The present study offers a perspective for adolescent mental health during the pandemic, underlining the importance and caveats of healthcare delivery to the youth with mental health problems during lockdown.

The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on children with neurodevelopmental disorder

Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on children with neurodevelopmental disorders through Tele-Medicine system. Method: Children aged between 7-18 years old with neurodevelopmental disorders were evaluated. On the routine control visit day, they and their parents were called by phone via the Tele-Medicine system and a questionnaire prepared by the researchers was applied to evaluate the compliance process to the pandemic. The disease severity of the cases was evaluated by the Clinical Global Impression Scale. Results: In our study, 17.6% of the cases were girls and 82.4% were boys. The average age is 11.66 +/- 3.46 years. In this study 51% of the cases were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder;47.1% with Intellectual Disability and 17.6% with Special Learning Disorder. The comorbidity of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder was found to be 49%. Increased anxiety is reported by 25.5% of the cases, appetite and nutritional problems by %37.3 and sleep pattern changes by 62.7%. Pre-pandemic score of Clinical Global Impression Scale was evaluated as 3.82 +/- 0.81, and the score during the pandemic as 4.09+/-0.87. Discussion: It was found that, in the early period of the Covid-19 pandemic, the most common problems of the cases with neurodevelopmental disorder were the sleep pattern changes, appetite and nutritional problems and increased anxiety. It is thought that our findings will guide psychosocial support interventions for children and adolescents with developmental problems during the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Turkish) Amac: COVID19 pandemisinin, norogelisimsel bozuklugu olan cocuklar uzerine olan etkisinin Tele-Tip uygulamasi ile degerlendirilmesi amaclanmistir. Yontem: Calismada, norogelisimsel bozukluk tanisi olan 7-18 yas araligindaki cocuk ve gencler degerlendirilmistir. Randevu tarihlerinde Tele-Tip Sistemi kapsaminda telefonla aranip kendileri ve ebeveynleriyle gorusulmus, pandemiye uyum surecini degerlendirmek amaciyla arastirmacilarin hazirladigi anket uygulanmistir. Pandemi oncesi ve sonrasi hastalik siddeti Klinik Global Izlenim Olcegi ile degerlendirilmistir. Bulgular: Degerlendirilen 51 olgunun %17.6'si kiz, %82.4'u erkektir. Yas ortalamasi 11.66 +/- 3.46 yildir. Calismaya alinan olgularin %51'i Otizm Spektrum Bozuklugu;%47.1'i Zihinsel Yetersizlik;%17.6'si Ozel Ogrenme Bozuklugu tanisi ile izlenmektedir. Dikkat Eksikligi ve Hiperaktivite Bozuklugu komorbiditesi %49 olarak saptanmistir. Olgularin %25.5'i kaygi artisi, %37.3'u istah ve beslenme duzeni degisikligi, %62.7'si uyku degisikligi bildirmistir. Olgularin pandemi oncesi Klinik Global Izlenim Olcegi puani 3.82+/-0.81, pandemi surecindeki puani 4.09+/-0.87 olarak degerlendirilmistir. Sonuc: Covid-19 pandemisinin erken doneminde, norogelisimsel bozukluk tanisi ile izlemde olan cocuk ve genclerin en sik uyku duzeni degisiklikleri, istah ve beslenme sorunlari ve kaygi artisi saptanmistir. Bulgularimizin pandemi surecinde gelisimsel sorunlari olan cocuk ve genclere yonelik gelistirilecek psikososyal destek mudahalelerine yol gosterici olacagi dusunulmustur. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A new challenge for child psychiatrists: Inpatient care management during coronavirus pandemic

The first objective of this article;is to define, as the child psychiatry inpatient service team, the approaches to patients who need both professional help and treatment in terms of mental health and need protection from an infection during the Covid-19 outbreak. Secondly, to evaluate the adaptation of the clinical skills (mechanism) to this critical process. A great burden is imposed on health systems during COVID-19 Pandemic. In this process, it is essential to follow the guidelines on transmission of infection and provide inpatient service treatment for child and adolescent in urgent need of mental health treatment. Length of hospitalization may be shorter in the pandemic period and high rate of antipsychotic use and predominance of patients with insufficient response to monotherapy may be related to hospitalization of patients with more severe disease during pandemic period. Timely organized regulations in psychiatry clinics can be effective against risk of transmission. This study shows the importance of how the pandemic process and the psychiatric disease treatment process can be carried out together. The continuation of the treatment services with infectious prevention measures in the field of mental health during pandemic times has an crucial place. As the healthcare professionals in the field of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, we think that it may be important to share inpatient service functioning and experiences in the face of the COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

COVID-19-Related Stigma and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents During Pandemic.

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate depression and anxiety symptoms of the children/grandchildren of COVID-19 patients, children/grandchildren of healthcare workers who have not infected COVID-19, and children/grandchildren of the control group. Parent and children's perception about COVID-19-related stigma is also investigated and compared between groups. The perception about COVID-19-related stigma between different age and gender groups among children also investigated and compared. The mental health of the 71 participants aged 6-18 years was evaluated via a telemedicine-based semi-structured interview between March and April 2020. Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), and COVID-19-Related Stigma Form were administered to the participants. A significant negative correlation was found between age and separation anxiety disorder (p = .005) and a significant positive correlation was found between age and generalized anxiety disorder (p = .035) in the SCARED-Child report. Generalized anxiety disorder was found to be higher in females compared to males. A significant difference was found between the groups of parents in the COVID-19-Related Stigma Form. Patients infected with COVID-19, healthcare workers, and the control group have different perceptions about COVID-19-related stigma. The age of the children have an impact on stigma perceptions. Anxiety symptoms of children affected by age and gender. Future studies are recommended to determine the other factors associated with perceptions about COVID-19-related stigma among children and parents.