Research in Mental Health During the Pandemic

All healthcare had to rapidly adjust to covid-19;remote options were implemented at pace and unnecessary face to face contact minimised, with infection prevention and control taking primacy. Many research projects were suspended and some clinical researchers moved to frontline care. For psychiatric academic trainees, covid-19 affected recruitment, and risked delaying work on research degrees such as PhDs, potentially beyond the timeframe of a grant, leading to funding uncertainties. Those valuable casual conversations with senior colleagues in the cafe stopped and with many schools closed, parents had extra pressures on their time at home. In the UK the government prioritised "Urgent Public Health" (UPH) studies and took a co-ordinated approach to research approvals and recruitment strategies, contributing to the success of covid-19 platform trials such as RECOVERY. While initially only a minority of UPH studies were open to people with serious mental illnesses, now the effect of the pandemic on mental health has become a research priority. In parallel, service planners recognised the value of emergent research in informing decision-making creating de facto learning health systems. While covid-19 interrupted research as we knew it, it necessitated new ways of working, some of which will persist. These included an increase in remote data collection, allowing greater access to research opportunities for potential participants, along with more efficient research approval and evidence dissemination pathways.

Research in mental health during the pandemic

BodyThe 2020 coronavirus pandemic sparked sudden change in all spheres of life, not least health services. Across Europe clinical research had to adapt. The virus peaked in different places at different times, with London’s first wave in March-May. The National Institute for Health Research paused all face to face research at NHS and social care sites except for nationally prioritised Urgent Public Health (UHP) Covid-19 studies. The first UPH studies focused on acute Covid-19, largely in physical health settings. Research leaders quickly highlighted the need for high quality research data on the effects of the pandemic on the mental health of the general population, as well as the mental health and neuropsychiatric effects of the virus itself, to allow for the development and evaluation of mitigation strategies. The major UK research funders have resourced this. Once the first wave abated, paused research was restarted according to national prioritisation guidance. In Maudsley we worked closely with research teams to develop strategies to make our research programmes as Covid-19 adaptive as possible, maximising remote interaction with research participants, with robust infection prevention procedures if face to face meetings were necessary. Examples of innovative strategies will be shared. In January 2021 with the more transmissible variant of SARS CoV2, face to face research paused again, except where risk was outweighed by patient benefit in continuing. As patients benefit hugely from research and innovation and have better outcomes if treated in ‘research-active’ hospitals, maintaining access to research opportunities without increasing risk of contracting Covid-19 will be key in coming months.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Vitamin D deficiency in schizophrenia implications for COVID-19 infection.

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of acute respiratory infection. There is an excess of respiratory infections and deaths in schizophrenia, a condition where vitamin D deficiency is especially prevalent. This potentially offers a modifiable risk factor to reduce the risk for and the severity of respiratory infection in people with schizophrenia, although there is as yet no evidence regarding the risk of COVID-19. In this narrative review, we describe the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in schizophrenia, report the research examining the relationship between vitamin D levels and COVID-19 and discuss the associations between vitamin D deficiency and respiratory infection, including its immunomodulatory mechanism of action.