Purpose Of The Article: To examine changes in symptom severity and well-being during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among individuals with pre-existing mental illness.
Materials And Methods: In February 2021, we conducted a follow-up questionnaire-based survey among adults with mental illness, who responded to a similar survey on mental health in June 2020. The participants completed the 18-item Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), the five-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and 14 questions evaluating worsening or improvement in mental health using the pre-pandemic period as reference.
Patients with mental illness are at an increased risk of COVID-19 infection, morbidity, and mortality, and prioritisation of this group for COVID-19 vaccination programmes has therefore been suggested. Vaccine uptake may, however, be compromised by vaccine hesitancy amongst patients with mental illness, posing a critical public health issue. We conducted two surveys to provide weighted estimates of vaccine willingness amongst patients with mental illness and the general population of Denmark.
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