Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health and Motor Deficits in Cuban Patients with Cerebellar Ataxias.
Cerebellum
; 20(6): 896-903, 2021 Dec.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1574417
ABSTRACT
Although there are no convincing evidences of detrimental effect of SARS-CoV2 infection on the cerebellum, the COVID-19 pandemic could impact the life quality of patients with cerebellar ataxias, but few studies have addressed this concern. To assess the motor and mental health changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemics in Cuban patients with cerebellar ataxias, three hundred four patients with cerebellar ataxias and 167 healthy controls were interviewed for risks of exposure to COVID-19, and the self-perception of the pandemics' impact on the disease progression and on the mental health. All subjects underwent the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The patients reported low exposition to SARS-CoV2 infection, but one case was confirmed with a mild COVID-19. Overall, depressive and anxiety symptoms were significantly and marginally increased in patients, respectively, with higher scores in cases with severe and moderate ataxia. Positive patient's impression of psychopathological changes was associated to increased age, age at onset, and anxiety. Sixty-seven patients had a positive self-perception of ataxia progression, which was mainly influenced by higher anxiety scores but not by the adherence to at-home exercise programs. However, the practice of physical exercise was related with lower depression and anxiety scores, but this therapeutical effect was not significantly influenced by the disease stage. We demonstrated the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental and motor deficits in Cuban patients with cerebellar ataxias and the positive effect of the at-home physical exercise programs on their mental well-being. These findings give rationales to develop tele-medicine approaches to minimize these health impacts and to study the long-term effects of such sequelae and accordingly define their treatments.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cerebellar Ataxia
/
Mental Health
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Caribbean
/
Cuba
Language:
English
Journal:
Cerebellum
Journal subject:
Brain
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12311-021-01260-9
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