Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Correlates of Poor Mental Health Among Older Adults in Agricultural Areas of China

The influence of WeChat education and care program on anxiety, depression, insomnia, and general state of health in parents of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients

PURPOSE

WeChat-based education and care program serves as a promising nursing method for relieving mental stress in parents of pediatric patients. This study purposed to explore the influence of the WeChat education and care program (WECP) on mental health, insomnia, and general state of health in parents of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients.

METHODS

Totally, 146 parents of 73 primary pediatric ALL patients were randomized into the WECP group (74 parents of 37 patients) and standard care (SC) group (72 parents of 36 patients) to receive a 6-month corresponding intervention. Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), Athens insomnia scale (AIS), and 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) were assessed in parents of patients.

RESULTS

SAS scores at the third month (M3) (P = 0.041) and M6 (P = 0.032) were reduced in WECP group versus SC group. SAS-defined anxiety rate at M6 (P = 0.035) was declined in WECP group versus SC group. SDS score at M6 was descended in WECP group versus SC group (P = 0.024). However, there was no discrepancy in SDS-defined depression rate at any time point between groups (all P > 0.05). AIS scores at M1 (P = 0.015) and M6 (P = 0.021), as well as GHQ-12 scores at M3 (P = 0.007) and M6 (P = 0.001) were decreased in WECP group versus SC group. By subgroup analyses, WECP exhibited good effects at M6 in mothers, but not in fathers.

CONCLUSION

WECP is a feasible and efficacy intervention to improve mental stress and health status among parents of pediatric ALL patients, especially in mothers.

Suicidality and Its Association with Stigma in Clinically Stable Patients with Schizophrenia in Rural China

Purpose

Patients with schizophrenia not only experience more stigma than those with other mental illnesses, but they also have a higher risk of committing suicide. There are, however, few research on the connection between rural individuals with clinically stable schizophrenia and suicidality when they feel stigmatized. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to look at the suicidality in clinically stable patients with schizophrenia in rural China, including the prevalence, clinical correlates, and its relationships with stigma.

Patients and Methods

From September 2022 to October 2022, we conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional study in rural Chaohu, Anhui Province, China, and A total of 821 patients with schizophrenia completed the assessment. Three standardized questions were used to assess suicidality (including suicidal ideation, suicide plan, and suicide attempt), Patient Health Questionnaire with 9 items (PHQ-9) for determining depressive state, the first two items of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-Brief Version (QOL), which measures quality of life, the Social Impact Scale (SIS) to assess stigma, and some other important variables (eg employment, psychiatric medication, etc.) were measured using a homemade scale.

Results

Of the 821 participants who completed the questionnaire, 19.2% of the patients were found to have suicidality, of which 19.2% (158/821) were suicidal ideation, 5.6% (46/821) were suicide plans and 4.5% (37/821) were suicide attempts. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that job status (OR=0.520, p=0.047), psychiatric medication (OR=2.353, p=0.020), number of hospitalizations (OR=1.047, p=0.042), quality of life (OR=0.829, p=0.027), PHQ-9 (OR=0.209, p<0.001) stigma (OR=1.060, p<0.001) and social isolation in stigma (OR=1.134, p=0.001) were associated independently with suicidality.

Conclusion

Among clinically stable schizophrenia patients in rural China, suicidality is frequent and associated with stigma. Since stigma and some risk factors have a negative impact on suicidality, we should conduct routine screening and take suicide prevention measures to clinically stable schizophrenia patients in rural areas of China.

Using Twitter Data to Estimate the Prevalence of Symptoms of Mental Disorders in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ecological Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Existing research and national surveillance data suggest an increase of the prevalence of mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media platforms, such as Twitter, could be a source of data for estimation owing to its real-time nature, high availability, and large geographical coverage. However, there is a dearth of studies validating the accuracy of the prevalence of mental disorders on Twitter compared to that reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to verify the feasibility of Twitter-based prevalence of mental disorders symptoms being an instrument for prevalence estimation, where feasibility is gauged via correlations between Twitter-based prevalence of mental disorder symptoms (ie, anxiety and depressive symptoms) and that based on national surveillance data. In addition, this study aims to identify how the correlations changed over time (ie, the temporal trend).

METHODS

State-level prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms was retrieved from the national Household Pulse Survey (HPS) of the CDC from April 2020 to July 2021. Tweets were retrieved from the Twitter streaming application programming interface during the same period and were used to estimate the prevalence of symptoms of mental disorders for each state using keyword analysis. Stratified linear mixed models were used to evaluate the correlations between the Twitter-based prevalence of symptoms of mental disorders and those reported by the CDC. The magnitude and significance of model parameters were considered to evaluate the correlations. Temporal trends of correlations were tested after adding the time variable to the model. Geospatial differences were compared on the basis of random effects.

RESULTS

Pearson correlation coefficients between the overall prevalence reported by the CDC and that on Twitter for anxiety and depressive symptoms were 0.587 (P<.001) and 0.368 (P<.001), respectively. Stratified by 4 phases (ie, April 2020, August 2020, October 2020, and April 2021) defined by the HPS, linear mixed models showed that Twitter-based prevalence for anxiety symptoms had a positive and significant correlation with CDC-reported prevalence in phases 2 and 3, while a significant correlation for depressive symptoms was identified in phases 1 and 3.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive correlations were identified between Twitter-based and CDC-reported prevalence, and temporal trends of these correlations were found. Geospatial differences in the prevalence of symptoms of mental disorders were found between the northern and southern United States. Findings from this study could inform future investigation on leveraging social media platforms to estimate symptoms of mental disorders and the provision of immediate prevention measures to improve health outcomes.

Mental health status among prison officers in the process of enforcing the law during COVID-19epidemic: a cross-sectional survey from China

BACKGROUND

A global public health emergency triggered by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic may have are markable psychological impact on the population. There is still limited psychological research on police officers, especially prison officers in the process of enforcing the law. The present study aims to identify prevalence and influencing factors on mental health status among frontline prison officers in China during the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey with a sample of 981 frontline prison officers was conducted using snowball sampling approach. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of 4 parts: (i) informed consent form; (ii) socio-demographic section; (iii) work and life situations during the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic; (iv) the Chinese version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed to identify factors influencing mental health status.

RESULTS

The prevalence of being prone to mental health problems (GHQ-12 score ≥ 4) was 33.43% among frontline prison officers. The results of GHQ-12 factors analysis indicated that the prison officers suffered from psychological issues was related to anxiety and depression, which main symptoms were unhappy and depressed, lost sleep over worry and constantly under strain. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that male (OR = 1.573, 95% CI:1.385-1.853), lockdown shift inside the prison(OR = 2.203, 95% CI:2.139-2.297), more night shifts (OR = 2.163, 95% CI:2.031-2.317; OR = 2.749, 95% CI:2.194-2.901), more smoking (OR = 1.100, 95% CI:1.037-2.168), poor self-reported physical condition (OR = 1.947, 95% CI:1.478-2.250), chronic or serious illness history(OR = 1.870, 95% CI:1.314-2.660; OR = 2.214, 95% CI:1.460-2.812) were risk factors for mental health among frontline prison officers, while regular diet (OR = 0.779, 95% CI:0.539-0.928), more physical exercise (OR = 0.702, 95% CI:0.548-0.899; OR = 0.641, 95% CI:0.316-0.887), more communication with family members (OR = 0.437, 95% CI:0.295-0.616) were protective factors.

CONCLUSION

Chinese frontline prison officers experienced different psychological stress coming from the prevention and control of this epidemic. Therefore, continued surveillance of psychological problems and targeted mental health care for frontline prison officers were urgent.

Prevalence, Structure, and Risk Factors for Mental Disorders in Older People

This review focuses on assessing the prevalence and risk factors of mental disorders in older people in the modern era, including the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review of the literature was conducted in PubMed, Elsevier, and Google using keywords over the past 10 years. Substantial discrepancy of data on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders has been shown in the elderly population. The significant incidence of mental disorders among nursing home residents is highlighted. The relevance of nonpsychotic depressive and anxiety disorders is demonstrated for the elderly, along with the difficulty of diagnosing mental disorders associated with physical pathology and cognitive impairments. The risk factors for mental disorders in older adults are socio-demographic but also economic, psychological, and physical. The problem of mental health of the elderly is characterized for the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic associated with specific risk factors for psychiatric disorders. The shortage of evidence-based research in the treatment of mental disorders in the elderly and the urgency to improve the organization of psychiatric care for such patients are noted. Understanding the structure and prevalence of mental disorders among the elderly will allow optimizing the functioning of healthcare systems.