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Prodi T, Dragogna F, Benatti B, Varinelli A, Vanzetto S, Gianfelice L, Dell'Osso B. COVID-19 and psychiatric disorders among young people: a cross-sectional study. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 2024:00004850-990000000-00148. [PMID: 39120982 DOI: 10.1097/yic.0000000000000565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/11/2024]
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant rise in mental health issues was observed. Particularly, children and adolescents have shown a higher risk of developing mental disorders than adults. This study aimed to describe the evolving features of the requests for psychiatric emergency interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic in young people. We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing the number, characteristics, and symptoms of people aged between 12 and 18 years old attending one Emergency Department (ED) for psychiatric issues, considering three different periods: T0 (8 March 2019-7 March 2020), T1 (8 March 2020-7 March 2021), and T2 (8 March 2021-7 March 2022). Total admissions were 220: 99 (45%) during T0, 40 (18.1%) for T1, and 81 (36.8%) for T2 ( P < 0.001). A significant decrease in the mean age from T0 to T1 was found ( P < 0.01). Admissions for psychomotor agitation decreased, while admission due to anxiety disorder and nonsuicidal self-injury raised significantly ( P < 0.05), as for first psychiatric presentation ( P < 0.01). Regarding substance use, a significant reduction was observed ( P < 0.05). The rates of eating disorders ( P < 0.001) and early insomnia ( P < 0.01) increased from T0. These findings highlight the worsening of psychiatric symptoms in the young population during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiziano Prodi
- Department of Mental Health, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco", University of Milan
| | - Filippo Dragogna
- Department of Mental Health, Psychiatry 1 Unit, Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Milan
| | - Beatrice Benatti
- Department of Mental Health, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco", University of Milan
| | - Alberto Varinelli
- Department of Mental Health, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco", University of Milan
| | | | - Letizia Gianfelice
- Department of Mental Health, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco", University of Milan
| | - Bernardo Dell'Osso
- Department of Mental Health, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco", University of Milan
- Department of Mental Health, Psychiatry 1 Unit, Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Milan
- "Aldo Ravelli" Center for Nanotechnology and Neurostimulation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Centro per lo studio dei meccanismi molecolari alla base delle patologie neuro-psico-geriatriche, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
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Ahmed N, Barnett P, Greenburgh A, Pemovska T, Stefanidou T, Lyons N, Ikhtabi S, Talwar S, Francis ER, Harris SM, Shah P, Machin K, Jeffreys S, Mitchell L, Lynch C, Foye U, Schlief M, Appleton R, Saunders KRK, Baldwin H, Allan SM, Sheridan-Rains L, Kharboutly O, Kular A, Goldblatt P, Stewart R, Kirkbride JB, Lloyd-Evans B, Johnson S. Mental health in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review. Lancet Psychiatry 2023; 10:537-556. [PMID: 37321240 PMCID: PMC10259832 DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(23)00113-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused immediate and far-reaching disruption to society, the economy, and health-care services. We synthesised evidence on the effect of the pandemic on mental health and mental health care in high-income European countries. We included 177 longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional studies comparing prevalence or incidence of mental health problems, mental health symptom severity in people with pre-existing mental health conditions, or mental health service use before versus during the pandemic, or between different timepoints of the pandemic. We found that epidemiological studies reported higher prevalence of some mental health problems during the pandemic compared with before it, but that in most cases this increase reduced over time. Conversely, studies of health records showed reduced incidence of new diagnoses at the start of the pandemic, which further declined during 2020. Mental health service use also declined at the onset of the pandemic but increased later in 2020 and through 2021, although rates of use did not return to pre-pandemic levels for some services. We found mixed patterns of effects of the pandemic on mental health and social outcome for adults already living with mental health conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nafiso Ahmed
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Phoebe Barnett
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK; Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, University College London, London, UK; National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK
| | - Anna Greenburgh
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Tamara Pemovska
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Theodora Stefanidou
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Natasha Lyons
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sarah Ikhtabi
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
| | - Shivangi Talwar
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
| | - Emma R Francis
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Samantha M Harris
- Department of Health Promotion and Development, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Prisha Shah
- Lived Experience Working Group, University College London, London, UK
| | - Karen Machin
- Lived Experience Working Group, University College London, London, UK
| | - Stephen Jeffreys
- Lived Experience Working Group, University College London, London, UK
| | - Lizzie Mitchell
- Lived Experience Working Group, University College London, London, UK
| | - Chris Lynch
- Lived Experience Working Group, University College London, London, UK
| | - Una Foye
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Merle Schlief
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rebecca Appleton
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Katherine R K Saunders
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Helen Baldwin
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sophie M Allan
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough National Health Service Foundation Trust, South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Luke Sheridan-Rains
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Ariana Kular
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Peter Goldblatt
- Institute of Health Equity, University College London, London, UK
| | - Robert Stewart
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | | | - Brynmor Lloyd-Evans
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sonia Johnson
- National Institute of Health and Care Research Mental Health Policy Research Unit, University College London, London, UK; Camden and Islington National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, UK
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Mental health and the effects on methylation of stress-related genes in front-line versus other health care professionals during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic: an Italian pilot study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2022; 273:347-356. [PMID: 36001138 PMCID: PMC9399986 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-022-01472-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Healthcare workers experienced high degree of stress during COVID-19. Purpose of the present article is to compare mental health (depressive and Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorders-PTSD-symptoms) and epigenetics aspects (degree of methylation of stress-related genes) in front-line healthcare professionals versus healthcare working in non-COVID-19 wards. Sixty-eight healthcare workers were included in the study: 39 were working in COVID-19 wards (cases) and 29 in non-COVID wards (controls). From all participants, demographic and clinical information were collected by an ad-hoc questionnaire. Depressive and PTSD symptoms were evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), respectively. Methylation analyses of 9 promoter/regulatory regions of genes known to be implicated in depression/PTSD (ADCYAP1, BDNF, CRHR1, DRD2, IGF2, LSD1/KDM1A, NR3C1, OXTR, SLC6A4) were performed on DNA from blood samples by the MassARRAY EpiTYPER platform, with MassCleave settings. Controls showed more frequent lifetime history of anxiety/depression with respect to cases (χ2 = 5.72, p = 0.03). On the contrary, cases versus controls presented higher PHQ-9 (t = 2.13, p = 0.04), PHQ-9 sleep item (t = 2.26, p = 0.03), IES-R total (t = 2.17, p = 0.03), IES-R intrusion (t = 2.46, p = 0.02), IES-R avoidance (t = 1.99, p = 0.05) mean total scores. Methylation levels at CRHR1, DRD2 and LSD1 genes was significantly higher in cases with respect to controls (p < 0.01, p = 0.03 and p = 0.03, respectively). Frontline health professionals experienced more negative effects on mental health during COVID-19 pandemic than non-frontline healthcare workers. Methylation levels were increased in genes regulating HPA axis (CRHR1) and dopamine neurotransmission (DRD2 and LSD1), thus supporting the involvement of these biological processes in depression/PTSD and indicating that methylation of these genes can be modulated by stress conditions, such as working as healthcare front-line during COVID-19 pandemic.
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