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Khaled SM, Amro I, Bader L, Woodruff P, Alabdulla MA, Bellaj T, Marzouk Y, Hasan Y, Al-Kaabi IM, Haddad PM. Factors associated with depression and anxiety in the adult population of Qatar after the first COVID-19 wave: a cross-sectional study. DISCOVER PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [PMCID: PMC8686347 DOI: 10.1007/s44202-021-00009-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
There is limited data from Arabic-speaking countries on risk factors for depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Country-specific data is necessary given differences in culture, demographics, and COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. The main purpose of the study is to identify the factors associated with symptoms of depression-anxiety in the adult population of Qatar during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in Qatar between July and December 2020 after Qatar’s first COVID-19 wave and before the beginning of the second wave. Depression-anxiety was defined as a cut-off of 20 or higher on the Patient Health Questionnaire-Anxiety Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS). Of 1138 participants, 71.0% were female, 69.0% Arabs, 70.0% Non-Qataris, and 77.0% were < 40 years (the median age in Qatar is 32 years). In a fully-adjusted model, six variables were significantly associated with moderate-to-severe levels of depression or anxiety on the PHQ-ADS; Arab ethnicity (OR = 1.67, p = 0.026), never married versus married (OR = 1.69, p = 0.015), prior history of psychiatric disorder versus no history (OR = 1.80, p = 0.009), increased worries due to social media use for COVID-related news/updates (OR = 1.72, p = 0.003), a history of COVID-19 (OR = 1.76, p = 0.039), loneliness (OR = 1.91, p < 0.001), and lower levels of religiosity (OR = 0.96, p = 0.039). These associations also pertained in the reduced model, with the exception of religiosity which was only marginally statistically significant (OR = 0.97, p = 0.055). The potential risk factors identified may assist with anxiety and depression prevention in future COVID-19 waves, and similar national events, and assist with early intervention to treat sufferers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salma Mawfek Khaled
- Social and Economic Survey Research Institute –SESRI, Qatar University, P.O. Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Population Medicine, College of Medicine, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Iman Amro
- Social and Economic Survey Research Institute –SESRI, Qatar University, P.O. Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Lina Bader
- Social and Economic Survey Research Institute –SESRI, Qatar University, P.O. Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Peter Woodruff
- University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN UK
| | - Majid A. Alabdulla
- Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box 3050, Doha, Qatar
- Clinical Science Department, College of Medicine, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Tarek Bellaj
- College of Art and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Yousri Marzouk
- College of Art and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Youssef Hasan
- College of Art and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Peter M. Haddad
- Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box 3050, Doha, Qatar
- Clinical Science Department, College of Medicine, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
- Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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Trunnell ER, Carvalho C. The forced swim test has poor accuracy for identifying novel antidepressants. Drug Discov Today 2021; 26:2898-2904. [PMID: 34390862 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 07/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Despite the prevalence of treatment-resistant depression, many pharmaceutical companies have abandoned the development of new antidepressants. Experts have attributed this, in part, to the low quality of preclinical tests available in this field, often citing over-reliance on animal behavioral screens, such as the forced swim test (FST). This retrospective review assessed whether compounds tested in the FST by major pharmaceutical companies were shown to have antidepressant effects in humans. Of 109 compounds identified, only 28% had been explored for antidepressant effects in humans. Of these, there were only three for which the FST appeared to positively predict antidepressant efficacy, but none are currently approved to treat any type of depression. With such poor accuracy for identifying novel antidepressants, the FST might not be a useful screening tool for this purpose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily R Trunnell
- Laboratory Investigations Department, 501 Front Street, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Norfolk, VA 23510, USA.
| | - Constança Carvalho
- Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal
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Lewison G, Sullivan R, Kiliç C. Mental health disorders research in the countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), 2008-17, and the disease burden: Bibliometric study. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0250414. [PMID: 33891637 PMCID: PMC8064544 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The 57 countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are suffering from an increasing burden from mental health disorders. We investigated their research outputs during 2008–17 in the Web of Science in order to compare them with the burden from different mental health disorders and in different countries. The papers were identified with a complex filter based on title words and journals. Their addresses were parsed to give fractional country counts, show international collaboration, and also reveal country concentration on individual disorders and types of research. We found 17,920 papers in the decade, with output quadrupling. Foreign contributions accounted for 15% of addresses; they were from Europe (7%), Canada + USA (5%) and elsewhere (3%). They were much greater for Qatar and Uganda (> 60%), but less than 10% for Iran and Turkey. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were over-researched, but suicide and self-harm were seriously neglected, relative to their mental health disorder burdens. Although OIC research has been expanding rapidly, some countries have published little on this subject, perhaps because of stigma. Turkey collaborates relatively little internationally and as a result its papers received few citations. Among the large OIC countries, it has almost the highest relative mental health disorders burden, which is also growing rapidly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grant Lewison
- Department of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Cancer Policy, Guy’s Hospital, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Richard Sullivan
- Department of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Cancer Policy, Guy’s Hospital, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Cengiz Kiliç
- Department of Psychiatry, and Stess Assessment and Research Centre (STAR), Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
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