Factors Associated with Psychiatric Morbidity among Patients who tested Positive and Isolated for COVID-19

ABSTRACT Objective: To look for the psychiatric morbidity and associated socio-demographic factors among patients who tested positive and isolated for COVID-19. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Malir Pakistan, from Mar to May 2020. Methodology: All patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and were admitted to the COVID-19 Ward without complications were included in the study. General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) was administered to look for the presence of psychiatric morbidity. Results: Out of 61 patients included in the study, 45(73.7%) showed the presence of psychiatric morbidity, while 16(26.3%) did not show psychiatric morbidity when screened with GHQ-12. 43(70.4%) were male, while 18(29.6%) were female. The mean age of the patients was 35.21±2.355 years. The advanced age and female gender have a statistically significant relationship (p-value<0.05) with the presence of psychiatric morbidity among patients of COVID-19. Conclusion: Many patients had psychiatric morbidity after being tested positive for COVID-19 and were isolated in the health facility. Female patients and patients aged more than 40 years were found to be more at risk of developing psychiatric morbidity among the patients admitted to COVID-19 ward.

International graduate students' sense of belonging: Exploring opportunities for a campus outdoor orientation program

University officials are interested in retaining and successfully graduating current students and recruiting future international graduate students. Accommodating the transition of international graduate students into their new communities and promoting their well-being requires an understanding of their needs. A rich research base has shown outdoor orientation programs to be of value for domestic undergraduate students. However, little is known about the successful use of outdoor orientation programs to foster a sense of belonging among international graduate students. No previous study has explored the outdoor recreation participation of international graduate students, the impact of their participation on their Sense of belonging, or their interests in an outdoor orientation program. The purposes of this study were to develop a measure to test international graduate students' Sense of belonging and investigate their interest in an outdoor orientation program.A mixed-methods research design (quantitative survey and qualitative focus group) was employed to understand the perspectives of international graduate students enrolled at Michigan State University (MSU). All (n=1819) international graduate students enrolled as full-time students were recruited to participate in the online survey. A total of 319 students responded to the survey, yielding a 17.54% response rate. Survey respondents were invited to participate in a focus group. Of those 319 respondents, 22 participated in one of six focus groups.Phase one explored international graduate students' Sense of belonging in their department and the MSU campus community, based upon McMillian and Chavis' (1986) Sense of Community Theory. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors in the new Sense of Belonging measure: university connection, department acceptance, and department connection. Females had significantly higher scores in department acceptance. There were significant differences between cultural groups in university connection and SCI subscales of shared emotional connection and influence and difference in departmental acceptance between females and other genders. Participants showed more interest in outdoor activities such as picnicking, barbequing, enjoying the river scenery, and taking walks. Students who took part in specific MSU activities, such as registered MSU student organizations, had significantly higher scores in all three Sense of Belonging factors than students who did not do those activities.Phase two examined students' transitional experiences into studying at an MSU, what outdoor activities were of interest to international graduate students, and their recommendations on designing an outdoor orientation program. Results showed that some participants struggled to adjust to lifestyles and cultures while balancing their academics and personal life events. Focus group participants were interested in social events throughout the calendar year. Additionally, they indicated an interest in non-traditional outdoor orientation program activities such as hosting campus tours, picnics, game nights, and coffee-hour gatherings. Recommendations are provided for outdoor orientation programming to reduce the challenges faced by international graduate students and build students' relations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Inpatient psychiatry unit devoted to COVID-19 patients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the mental health care. Treating psychiatric patients with COVID-19 poses multiple challenges in the inpatient psychiatric setting in terms of mitigating transmission of the virus. Gracie Square Hospital, a freestanding psychiatric hospital located in New York City, dedicated a unit for treating COVID-19 patients requiring inpatient psychiatric treatment. We faced different challenges including treatment refusal, difficulty complying with safety precautions due to psychosis, agitated behavior, and staff psychological well-being. We considered reformation of protocols, expansion of the use of technology, development of a supportive platform, and standardization of clinical practice. This paper describes our strategies to manage the challenges while providing acute psychiatric treatment to COVID-19 patients.

Cognitive assessment in asymptomatic COVID-19 subjects.

Neurological features of COVID-19 have been reported in addition to the respiratory manifestations, but cognitive dysfunction has been scarcely described. And cognitive assessment has not been studied in asymptomatic subjects. We compared the cognitive assessment scores between asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected subjects with that of controls to detect mild cognitive impairment by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test. Asymptomatic COVID-19 subjects secured lower scores in certain domains of the MoCA in comparison with the controls. The domains were visuoperception (2.4 ± 0.7 vs2.8 ± 0.7, p = 0.032), naming (3.6 ± 0.5 vs3.9 ± 0.2, p = 0.016) and fluency (0.9 ± 0.6 vs1.6 ± 0.7, p = < 0.001). Also, older aged COVID-19 positive subjects scored lower in the MoCA when compared to the younger people. Our study shows that even otherwise asymptomatic COVID-19 subjects have cognitive deficits in certain subdomains and suggests the need for a detailed psychometric assessment especially in the elderly population. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13337-021-00663-w).