Increased Incidence of Functional (Psychogenic) Movement Disorders in Children and Adults Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study.
Neurol Clin Pract
; 11(5): e686-e690, 2021 Oct.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1883568
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Functional (psychogenic) movement disorders (FMDs) are conditions in which affected patients develop abnormal movements that are incongruous with known, organic, movement disorders, often associated with psychological stressors.METHODS:
In this case series, electronic medical records of all patients who presented to our adult and pediatric tertiary care movement disorders clinics between March 1 and October 30, 2020, and during the same period in 2019 were reviewed. All patients diagnosed with functional (psychogenic) movement disorder were included if they satisfied diagnostic criteria.RESULTS:
Among 550 new patients referred for evaluation at our tertiary care movement disorders centers, 45 (8.2%) received a diagnosis of FMD; 75.6% were female, in comparison to the prior year during which time 665 new patients were evaluated and 5.1% were diagnosed with FMD. This represents a 60.1% increase (90.1% in pediatric cohort, 50.9% in adult cohort) in new patients diagnosed with FMD during the COVID-19 pandemic.CONCLUSIONS:
Within our patient population, there has been increased incidence of FMDs in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly reflecting increased psychological and other stressors during this period.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Language:
English
Journal:
Neurol Clin Pract
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS