Health, Psychological Distress and Functioning During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Danish Adults with and Without a Preexisting Mental Illness

Deteriorations in mental health as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been found in some investigations where persons with preexisting mental illnesses have been proposed as a particularly vulnerable group. The aims of this paper were to evaluate health, psychological distress and functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic among Danish adults with and without mental illness. Data from three online surveys collected in May 2020 (n=3134), January 2021 (n=1170), and January 2022 (n=1174) were utilized (Danish part of the Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT)). The prevalence of mental and physical health, distress (stress, sleep problems, loneliness, and boredom) and the level of functioning (self-care, interpersonal relationships, hobbies/leisure, and work/education) were evaluated at four different time points stratified by mental illness. Physical health was not affected differently between people with and without former mental illness. Mental health decreased significantly more in respondents with former mental illness. Stress did not differ between the two groups, but boredom was more pronounced in May 2020 in people with former mental illness. Loneliness in people with former mental illness was significantly higher in January 2021. Sleep disturbance was more pronounced for respondents with former mental illness during the whole period. A worsening of function was seen for people both with and without a former mental illness. It seemed a little more pronounced for people with mental illness, but seldom reached statistical significance. For all measures of health, distress and functioning, 10-20% of respondents felt better during the pandemic. This was especially pronounced for stress where one third felt better. In most of the parameters measured the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to decrease with time. The influence of the pandemic did not show a uniform picture, and more investigations are needed to understand the whole picture.