What Is the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients with Pre-Existing Mood or Anxiety Disorder? An Observational Prospective Study.
Medicina (Kaunas)
; 57(4)2021 Mar 24.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1154449
ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives:
This observational prospective study aims to examine the psychological and psychopathological impact of the pandemic stress on patients with pre-existing mood, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Materials andMethods:
The study includes 386 consecutive patients recruited from 10 March to 30 June 2020 among those being treated at the Institute of Psychopathology in Rome (Italy) with an age ≥18 years and meeting DSM-5 criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) (35.2%), bipolar I (BD-I) (21.5%) or II (BD-II) (28.8%) disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (7.5%), panic disorder (PD) (7.0%) or social anxiety (SA). A total of 34.2% had lifetime comorbid Axis I disorders and 15.3% had alcohol/drug abuse disorders. Using a semi-structured interview, we investigated if the impact of COVID-19 stress for patients has been similar, higher or lower than that of their family and friends and, for patients with relapse/symptoms worsening, if there was a relationship between the clinical condition worsening and the pandemic stress.Results:
Compared with that experienced by their family members and friends, the psychological impact of pandemic stress was similar in 52.1% of the sample, better in 37.1% and worse in 10.8%. In 21 patients (5.4%), the stress triggered a recurrence or worsened the symptoms. Patients with OCD had a higher rate of worsening due to pandemic stress compared to patients with MDD (p = 0.033), although, overall, the χ2 test was not significant among primary diagnoses (χ2 = 8.368; p = 0.057).Conclusions:
The psychological and psychopathological consequences of COVID-19 stress in our outpatients were very modest. The continuity of care offered during the lockdown could explain the results.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Anxiety Disorders
/
Stress, Psychological
/
Bipolar Disorder
/
Depressive Disorder, Major
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Medicine
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Medicina57040304
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