Anxiety and depression in spinocerebellar ataxia patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: A cross-sectional study. (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gong, Yiqing; Chen, Zhao; Liu, Mingjie; Wan, Linlin; Wang, Chunrong; Peng, Huirong; Shi, Yuting; Peng, Yun; Xia, Kun; Qiu, Rong; Tang, Beisha; Jiang, Hong
• Is Part Of: Journal of clinical neuroscience. Volume 88(2021)
• Page Start: 39
• Page End: 46
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: Spinocerebellar ataxia -- Anxiety -- Depression -- Cerebellum -- COVID-19; Brain -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Brain -- surgery -- Periodicals; Neurosurgical Procedures -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2021.03.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0967-5868

Abstract

Highlights: We investigated the psychological effect of COVID-19 pandemic on 307 SCA patients. More than half of SCA patients had anxiety and depression during COVID-19 pandemic. Depression (56.7%) was more common than anxiety (34.9%) in SCA patients. Exposure to COVID-19, educational level, and disease course affect mental health. The more severe the ataxia was, the higher the risk of anxiety and depression. Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently a global concern, and the psychological impact cannot be overlooked. Our purpose was to evaluate the anxiety and depression in spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) patients during the pandemic and to analyse the influencing factors. We conducted an online questionnaire survey among 307 SCA patients from China and selected 319 healthy people matched by sex and age as the control group. The questionnaire included general information, the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), and the self-rating depression scale (SDS). The relevant factors included COVID-19 risk factors, age, sex, body mass index (BMI), educational background, disease course, score on the scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia (SARA), Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS). The proportion of SCA patients with anxiety was 34.9%, and the proportion with depression was 56.7%. The SAS and SDS scores of the SCA patients were significantly higher than those of the control group (SAS: 45.8 ± 10.1 vs. 40.6 ± 8.9, P < 0.01; SDS: 55.1 ± 12.2 vs. 43.6 ± 11.9, P < 0.01). In SCA3, the risk of exposure to COVID-19, educational level, disease course and the severity of ataxia may be factors affecting patients' mental health. More attention should be paid to the mental health of SCA patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.