Introduction: The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the subsequent restrictions significantly affected mental health, especially major depressive disorder (MDD) whose incidence increased by 27.6% in 2020, after the COVID-19 outbreak. Few studies focused on the impact of the pandemic on the clinical characteristics of outpatients with MDD and even fewer on inpatients admitted for a major depressive episode (MDE). We aimed to compare the characteristics of MDD of two groups of patients admitted for an MDE before and after the pandemic outbreak and to investigate which variables are significantly related to post-lockdown hospitalizations.
Methods: This retrospective study included 314 patients with MDD hospitalized from January 2018 to December 2021 for an MDE (DSM-5) before ( = 154) and after ( = 160) the Italian lockdown (9th of March 2020). We compared patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. The characteristics significantly different between the two groups were included in a logistic regression to identify the factors more strictly associated with post-lockdown hospitalizations.
Results: During post-lockdown hospitalization, we found a higher rate of severe MDE (33 patients, 21.4%, in the pre-lockdown and 55 patients, 34.4%, in the post), MDE with psychotic features (3 patients, 2.0%, in the pre-lockdown and 11 patients, 6.9%, in the post-lockdown), and suicidal ideation (42, 27.3%, in the pre-lockdown and 67, 41.9%, in the post-lockdown), with a lower proportion of patients followed by psychiatric services before admission (106 patients, 68.8%, in the pre-lockdown and 90 patients, 56.3%, in the post-lockdown) and a higher percentage of them in treatment with psychotherapy (18 patients, 11.7% in the pre-lockdown and 32, 20.0%, in the post-lockdown) and more frequent increase of the antidepressant dosage (16 patients, 10.4% in the pre-lockdown and 32 patients, 20.0% in the post-lockdown) and adoption of augmentation strategies (13 patients, 8.4%, in the pre-lockdown and 26 patients, 16.3%, in the post-lockdown) to treat the MDE. In the regression model, post-lockdown hospitalizations were significantly associated with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.86; = 0.016) and psychotic features (OR = 4.41; = 0.029) at admission, the increase in the antidepressant daily dose (OR = 2.45; = 0.009), and the employment of an augmentation therapy (OR = 2.25; = 0.029).
Discussion: These results showed an association between the COVID-19 pandemic and the occurrence of MDE with more severe clinical features. This might be true also for future calamities, suggesting that in these emergency contexts, patients with MDD would require more attention, resources, and intense treatments with a specific focus on suicide prevention.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1181832 | DOI Listing |
Appl Clin Inform
December 2024
Biomedical Informatics, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, United States.
Background: The COVID pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth. Long-term implications for continued telehealth use on a large scale in primary care are still emerging, and the key to this understanding is how telehealth adoption impacts the delivery of health care.
Objectives: Our objective was to quantify how telehealth adoption during the pandemic impacted patients' access to healthcare and the usage patterns of different access modalities (in-office, audio, and video).
Medicine (Baltimore)
December 2024
Department of Internal Medicine, Necip Fazil City Hospital, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of lockdown measures on the metabolic parameters of patients with DM, with particular emphasis on geriatric populations. In this retrospective, longitudinal cohort study, 1224 patients were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Racial Ethn Health Disparities
December 2024
School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Aims: To investigate the impact of low socioeconomic status (SES) and/or membership in ethnic minority has on HbA1c before and during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted between March 2019 and March 2021, based on data from electronic medical records of 17,072 patients with type-2 diabetes, collected by Clalit (Israel's largest health maintenance organization). Low SES was compared to high and ethnic minorities (Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews) were compared to the general Israeli population of mostly Jewish, but not ultra-Orthodox, Israeli citizens.
BMC Public Health
November 2024
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda.
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) control measures presented impediments for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programming in Uganda. Nationwide control measures implemented April-June 2020 included a public transport ban and mandatory travel permits for pregnant women to access clinics. Program adaptations instituted for continuity of services included community drug delivery and home-based DNA-PCR testing for HIV-exposed infants (HEI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDan Med J
September 2024
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital.
Introduction: We aimed to explore the impact of social distancing on the incidence, severity and microbiology of patients with acute tonsillitis (AT).
Methods: In this single-centre study, we retrospectively included all patients with AT referred to the Ear-Nose-Throat Department, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, in the two years preceding versus the two years after the COVID-19 lockdown in Denmark (11 March 2020).
Results: In total, 425 patients were included.
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