From encephalitis lethargica to COVID-19: Is there another epidemic ahead?

Badrfam, Rahim; Zandifar, Atefeh

doi:10.1016/j.clineuro.2020.106065

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Definite conclusions in this regard also need to pay attention to various factors affecting this field and conduct more extensive studies. Examples of this group of possible connections can be seen in some scientific points of view [ 37 , 38 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, stress and perceived stress in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Zandifar

Badrfam

Yazdani

et al. 2020

J Diabetes Metab Disord

Self Cite

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose COVID-19, a disease that can be transmitted from person to person and with serious health problems, can be associated with mental health disorders. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, stress, and stress perception among a group of patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 106 inpatients with COVID-19 who had stable clinical conditions were evaluated psychologically by two questionnaires: Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4). Results More than one third of patients had underlying disease. Overall, 97.2% of patients with COVID-19 had some degree of depression. Severity of depression, according to the DASS questionnaire, was 85.8%. All patients (100%) had severe (0.9%) and very severe (99.1%) anxiety. Regarding to stress levels, 97.1% of patients had some degree of stress. In the severity of stress category, 84.9% of patients had severe and very severe stress. In terms of perceived stress, 73.6% of patients had high levels and 22.6% had moderate levels. A positive strong correlation was found between depression and perceived stress (Coefficient: 0.33, P-value: 0.001). Correlation between anxiety and perceived stress was statistically significant (Coefficient: 0.2, P-value: 0.04). Conclusions The existence of such a high prevalence and severity of psychiatric disorders among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 underscores the need for serious attention to the mental health status of these patients. It seems that health policymakers need to have coherent plans for screening cases and managing related situations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, stress and perceived stress in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Zandifar

Badrfam

Yazdani

et al. 2020

J Diabetes Metab Disord

Self Cite

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such experiences are exacerbated by the spread of infectious diseases associated with increased mortality or short-term or long-term disability ( 5 ). This is also the case with the potential long-term consequences of viral disease pandemics and can be associated with worrying consequences for mental health ( 32 ) and medical condition ( 33 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Stigma among Health Care Workers in Contact with COVID-19 Patients

Zandifar¹,

Badrfam

Khonsari

et al. 2020

IJPS

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: The global spread of COVID-19 has caused great psychological stress in health care workers (HCWs). This study aims to assess the prevalence and associated factors of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and stigma among health care workers (HCWs) who are involved in treating COVID-19 patients. This study was conducted as part of studies related to assessing the mental health status of HCWs in Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Overall, in this cross sectional study, 894 HCWs working in 9 general hospitals in Alborz province, Iran, in the field of diagnostic and treatment care of patients with COVID-19 were selected using multistage sampling method. PTSS and its subscales, including intrusion, avoidance, and hyper vigilance were obtained based on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-8 Item validated questionnaire. Information on Stigma's perception among HCWs was also obtained based on a questionnaire adopted from the HIV Stigma Scale. Predictors of PTSS and Stigma's perception among HCWs were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Overall, 71.4% of the participants were women and 46.9% were front line staff. The prevalence of intrusion, avoidance, and hyper vigilance symptoms was 44.2% (95% CI: 40.8-47.6), 31. 8% (95% CI: 28.8-35.0), and 37.7% (95% CI: 34.5-41.0), respectively. A strong and positive significant correlation was found between stigma score with PTSD total score (coefficient: 0.83) and its components. In multivariate logistic regression model, female gender was associated with intrusion (OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.03-2.06) and avoidance (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.147-2.417) and working in frontline increased the odds of intrusion (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.06-1.97) and hyper vigilance (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.03-1.91). Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSS is high among HCWs during COVID-19 pandemic and it is associated with some demographic characteristics of HCWs. This situation should be considered by health policymakers so that while trying to control the disease, the mental health status of this group of personnel should be given much attention.

show abstract

“…Fortunately, initial alarming reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome in relation to COVID-19 do not seem to have been borne out by this or other large-scale epidemiological studies. 6 Similarly, concerns about a wave of encephalitis lethargica, analogous to that sometimes linked to the 1918 influenza pandemic, 7 were not supported by the rather equivocal relationship between COVID-19 infection and parkinsonism. From the outbreak start in Wuhan, China, we can say with growing confidence that delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae such as post-encephalitic parkinsonism do not occur after COVID-19—unless the delay exceeds 1 year.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%