Self-reported mental health among individuals with mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. (13th April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Østergaard, S.; Kølbæk, P.; Speed, M.; Jefsen, O.
• Is Part Of: European psychiatry. Volume 64:Supplement 1(2021)
• Page Start: S37
• Page End: S37
• Publication Date: 2021-04-13
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- psychopathology -- pandemic -- mental health; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Mental illness -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.126
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0924-9338

Abstract

Abstract : Background: Individuals with mental illness may be particularly vulnerable to the negative impact that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic seems to have on mental health. Most prior studies on this topic are however limited by non-random sampling, lack of information on non-respondents, and self-reported diagnoses. Here, we aimed at overcoming these limitations by means of random sampling in a population of clinically diagnosed patients, acquisition of clinical and socio-demographic data on non-respondents, and weighting of results informed by attrition. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire-based online survey inviting six-thousand randomly drawn patients from the psychiatric services of the Central Denmark Region. They survey data were merged with sociodemographic- and clinical data from medical records on all invitees, which enabled analysis of attrition and weighting of results. The questionnaire included the 18-item Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and 14 questions evaluating the perceived severity of symptoms during the four-week nationwide lockdown of Denmark in March/April 2020 – using the pre-pandemic period as reference. Reasons for worsening or improvement in mental health during lockdown were also reported. Results: The preliminary results are as follows: The response rate was ≈20%. Approximately half the respondents reported that their mental health had deteriorated during lockdown, while the other half reported either no change (≈33%) or improvement (≈16%). The most commonly reported reasons for deterioration in mental health were disruption of routines and loneliness. Conclusion: The final results will be shown at the conference. Disclosure: No significant relationships.