Worsening of Preexisting Psychiatric Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Abstract
Objectives: To ascertain factors associated with worsening of psychiatric conditions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Methods: This study anonymously examined 2,734 psychiatric patients worldwide for worsening of their preexisting psychiatric conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. An independent clinical investigation of 318 psychiatric patients from United States was used for verification.
Results: Valid responses mainly from 12 featured countries indicated self-reported worsening of psychiatric conditions in two-thirds of the patients assessed that was through their significantly higher scores on scales for general psychological disturbance, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression. Female gender, feeling no control of the situation, reporting dissatisfaction with the response of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, and reduced interaction with family and friends increased the worsening of preexisting psychiatric conditions, whereas optimism, ability to share concerns with family and friends, and using social media like usual were associated with less worsening. An independent clinical investigation from the United States confirmed worsening of psychiatric conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic based on identification of new symptoms that necessitated clinical interventions such as dose adjustment or starting new medications in more than half of the patients.
Conclusions: More than half of the patients are experiencing worsening of their psychiatric conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2020.05.05.20092023: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement Consent: Ethical Considerations: Informed consent was obtained from each participant to allow anonymous recording, analysis, and publication of their answers.
IRB: The study procedures were reviewed and approved by University of Zurich Research Office for Scientific Integrity and Cantonal Ethics Commission for the canton of Zurich (Switzerland; Appendix 3), Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw (Poland; Appendix 4), Faculty of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina; Appendix 5), and the executive board of the European MD-PhD association (EMPA).Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a … SciScore for 10.1101/2020.05.05.20092023: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement Consent: Ethical Considerations: Informed consent was obtained from each participant to allow anonymous recording, analysis, and publication of their answers.
IRB: The study procedures were reviewed and approved by University of Zurich Research Office for Scientific Integrity and Cantonal Ethics Commission for the canton of Zurich (Switzerland; Appendix 3), Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw (Poland; Appendix 4), Faculty of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina; Appendix 5), and the executive board of the European MD-PhD association (EMPA).Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources All figures were produced using the packages ggplot2 (Wickham et al., 2016) and CGPfunctions (Powell, 2020). ggplot2suggested: (ggplot2, RRID:SCR_014601)Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your data.
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:The study also has potential limitations that warrant consideration when interpreting the results. First, the study employed a non-randomized sampling strategy. While this method has certain disadvantages, we hope that our results will catalyze the development of more studies on this essential topic that could be conducted by global outlets such as WHO and the European Union (EU) on a world- or continent-wide scale. Second, the data collection was exclusively done in an online format that may exclude those less-versed in web-usage, such as illiterate, disadvantaged, underdeveloped, or rural populations. We tried to reduce this bias by translating the study questionnaire into native/official languages for each of the featured countries. The third considerable limitation is the use of self-reporting scales rather than clinical verification. However, the anonymous nature of the survey and widespread social distancing measures preclude such verification. Additionally, it is not possible to adjust for the confounding effect of non-COVID-19-related individual crisis situations on participant responses. We tried to reduce this effect by formatting survey questions in such a way that would prompt participants to consider their mental state over the preceding week, rather than current mood. Another consideration is limited responses from the WHO African region AFRO, which necessitated exclusion of this very important region from the analysis. It is our hope that similar studies will b...
Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
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