Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 and its relationship with public interest in mental health: a study between 2020-2022 in Spain.

The possible relationship between vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and mental health has been largely unexplored. We investigated variations in public interest in mental health issues between the different periods of the vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 in Spain and before the initiation of the campaign. Using Google Trends, we explored the relative search volume (RSV) for the terms 'anxiety', 'depression', 'stress', 'insomnia', and 'suicide' between 03/01/2020 and 01/15/2022. The RSV was compared for these terms with respect to four periods: the pre-vaccination pandemic period; the period running from initiation of vaccination until 50% of the population was fully vaccinated (FV); the period running from 50% FV to 70% FV; and the period after 70% FV. Differences in the RSV indices were observed between the studied periods for 'anxiety'(F = 6.07; p = 0.001; ƞ2 = 0.16), 'stress' (F = 7.77; p < 0.001; ƞ2 = 0.19), and 'insomnia' (F = 3.80; p = 0.013; ƞ2 = 0.11). A lower RSV was found for 'anxiety', 'stress', and 'insomnia' after 70% FV compared to the two previous vaccination periods. A lower RSV was also found for 'stress' after achieving the milestone of 70% FV in relation to the period prior to initiation of the campaign. In conclusion, there is less need for information on specific mental health topics in the period after 70% FV. In Spain, reaching this vaccination milestone may have had a positive impact on anxiety, stress, and insomnia levels in the population, as reflected in fewer web searches for information on these psychopathological processes. The promotion of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign could take into account the changes observed in this preliminary study with respect to public interest in stress, anxiety, and insomnia once a large percentage of the population has been vaccinated.

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN SPANISH HEALTH PROFESSIONALS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ASSOCIATED SOCIOOCCUPATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

El objetivo del estudio fue analizar las características sociolaborales, el estrés percibido, las estrategias de afrontamiento y la sintomatología psicopatológica de profesionales sanitarios y la relación entre ellas, durante la pandemia de Covid-19. Participaron 135 sanitarios (médicos, enfermeros y otros), quienes obtuvieron valores superiores a los datos normativos en las puntuaciones medias de las medidas de estrés percibido, ansiedad fóbica y ansiedad. El grupo de médicos mostró un nivel de ansiedad y somatización más bajo que el grupo formado por otros profesionales sanitarios. Ser profesional médico, tener un menor grado de estrés subjetivo percibido, más afrontamiento activo y menos afrontamiento pasivo eran predictores significativos de la presencia de menos síntomas psicopatológicos. La descripción del perfil del profesional sanitario español con un menor riesgo de mostrar sintomatología psicopatológica puede ser de utilidad para identificar a grupos de sanitarios con mayor vulnerabilidad psicológica. Los hallazgos sugieren factores psicológicos específicos de interés a considerar en las intervenciones destinadas al abordaje de las necesidades de salud mental de esta población en el contexto sanitario generado por la Covid-19.Alternate :The objective of this study was to analyze the socio-occupational features, perceived stress, coping strategies and self-reported psychopathological symptoms of different groups of health professionals and the relationship among these variables during the Covid-19 pandemic. One hundred and thirty-five healthcare workers participated (medical staff, nursing staff and other health professionals), who obtained higher values than the normative data in the mean scores of perceived stress, phobic anxiety, and anxiety measures. The medical staff group showed a lower level of anxiety and somatization than the other group of healthcare professionals. Being a medical professional, having a lower level of perceived subjective stress, a greater proportion of active coping and lesser passive coping were significant predictors of fewer psychopathological symptoms. The description of a health professional profile with a lower risk of showing psychopathological symptoms can help identify healthcare groups with greater psychological vulnerability. The findings suggest specific psychological factors of interest to consider in interventions aimed at addressing the mental health needs of this population in the health context generated by Covid-19.

COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in Spain: An analysis of their relationship using Google Trends. / Pandemia por COVID-19 y salud mental en España: un análisis de su relación utilizando Google Trends.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to examine the public interest that exists on Internet regarding various mental health topics and its relationship with evolution of COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Google Trends was used to explore relative search volume (RSV) for the following terms related with mental health (TRMH): "anxiety", "depression", "stress", "insomnia" and "suicide"; between January and December 2020. The cross-correlation function was performed to assess association between new COVID-19 cases and RSV levels for TRMH. Finally, Mann-Whitney test was used to examine differences between RSV values for TRMH before and after of state of alarm declarations on March and October 2020. RESULTS: The "anxiety" term showed the highest RSV indices. A significant correlation was found between new COVID-19 cases and RSV for "anxiety" with a time-lag of +1 week (r=0.49; p<.05). Was found an increase of SRV for "anxiety" (U=0.00; p=.01) and a decrease of SRV for "depression" (U=1.00; p=.04) between 4-week period before and after state of alarm of March 2020. Regarding the state of alarm of October 2020, a higher RSV for "anxiety" (U=0.50; p=.02) was found in the four weeks after it compared with a similar previous period. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety is the mental health topic of greatest public interest on Internet in context of COVID-19 pandemic. Public concern about anxiety rises one week after the increase in COVID-19 cases and is greater after introduction of control measures that entail any type of mobility restriction or activity limitation. There is a greater general need for information on anxiety at specific times in the pandemic evolution.