Predictors of self-perceived health worsening over COVID-19 emergency in ALS

Cabona, Corrado; Ferraro, Pilar M.; Meo, Giuseppe; Roccatagliata, Luca; Schenone, Angelo; Inglese, Matilde; Villani, Flavio; Caponnetto, Claudia

doi:10.1007/s10072-020-04997-z

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Quite unexpectedly, the HADS and the AL-SAQ40 revealed only mild levels of mood disorders. However, contrast results on this topic were already obtained in two other different groups of ALS Italian patients [16,17]. This phenomenon is clinically confirmed by a similar percentage in the two groups of antidepressant drugs prescribed in the first year of the disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Accelerated Early Progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis over the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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During the COVID-19 pandemic and the related lockdowns, outpatient follow-up visits for patients with chronic neurological diseases have been suspended. Managing people affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has become highly complicated, leaving patients without the standard multidisciplinary follow-up. This study aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on ALS disease progression. We compared the clinical data and progression in the first year following diagnosis for patients who received ALS diagnosis during 2020 (G20, N = 34), comparing it with a group of diagnosed in 2018 (G18, N = 31). Both groups received a comparable multidisciplinary model of care in our Tertiary Expert ALS Centre, Novara, Italy. The monthly rate of ALSFRS-R decline during the lockdown was significantly increased in G20 compared to G18 (1.52 ± 2.69 vs. 0.76 ± 0.56; p-value: 0.005). In G20, 47% required non-invasive ventilation (vs. 32% of G18). Similarly, in G20, 35% of patients died vs. 19% of patients in G18 (p-value: 0.01). All results were corrected for gender, age, site of onset, and diagnostic delay. Several factors can be implicated in making ALS more severe, with a faster progression, such as reduced medical evaluations and the possibility of therapeutic changes, social isolation, and rehabilitation therapy suspension.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Accelerated Early Progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis over the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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“…Indeed, the restricted access to healthcare services (rehabilitation, community and home-based support) during the pandemic (31) for disabled individuals may detrimentally impact mobility and function. In ALS patients during the pandemic, a greater mobility impairment and rehabilitation therapy suspension were significant predictors of anxiety symptom severity (44). Thirty-one percent of participants cited concerns around "Health (mental and physical)/weight" as key motivators/facilitators to be physically active, whereas, others voiced concerns about their rapidly declining physical status ("I have declined physically quite rapidly and the exercises I could do at home at the beginning of the lockdown are now impossible" P101).…”

Section: Physical Functioning and Health-related Quality Of Lifementioning

confidence: 95%

“…The median HAQ-SDI scores of our cohort (1.5) indicate the presence of disability (>1). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the HAQ-SDI score was lowest for participants without mobility aids but highest for individuals who used any mobility aid and performed less household PA. A subjective worsening of neurological symptoms has been reported in individuals with Parkinson's disease (38,43) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (44) and cerebellar ataxias (45) as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, increasing the socio-economic burden of these neurological conditions (46). Indeed, the restricted access to healthcare services (rehabilitation, community and home-based support) during the pandemic (31) for disabled individuals may detrimentally impact mobility and function.…”

Section: Physical Functioning and Health-related Quality Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults With a Neurologically-Related Mobility Disability During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Analysis

et al. 2021

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Background: During the coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic various containment strategies were employed. Their impact on individuals with neurological conditions, considered vulnerable to COVID-19 complications, remains to be determined.Objective: To investigate associations between physical activity and health-related quality of life outcomes in individuals with a neurological condition during government mandated COVID-19 restrictions.Methods: An e-survey assessing fear of COVID-19, physical activity level and health-related quality of life outcomes (functional disability and pain, anxiety and depression, loneliness, fatigue, and vitality) was distributed to individuals with a neurologically-related mobility disability living in the United Kingdom. Open-ended questions were also included to contextualize barriers and facilitators to engage in physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gamma-weighted generalized linear models and tree-structured regression models were employed to determine the associations between physical activity and health-related quality of life.Results: Of 199 responses, 69% reported performing less physical activity compared to pre-pandemic. Tree-structured regression models revealed that lower leisure-time physical activity was significantly associated (p ≤ 0.009) with higher depression and fatigue, but lower vitality. The closure of leisure facilities and organized sport (27%) was the most commonly cited barrier to engage in physical activity, while 31% of participants mentioned concerns around their physical and mental health as a facilitator.Conclusion: Our analysis identified homogenous subgroups for depression, fatigue, and vitality based specifically on leisure-time physical activity cut points, irrespective of additional demographic or situational characteristics. Findings highlight the importance of and need to safely promote leisure-time physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic in this at-risk population to help support health-related quality of life.

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“…There is several evidence available that shows SARS-CoV-2 infection has a possible role in developing ALS. In this respect, it has been reported that the health status of ALS patients during the COVID-19 illness worsened, showing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on these patients [219]. Also, ACE2 may be expressed in the motor cortex, in the cytoplasm of neurons, which represent cerebral regions involved in the pathogenesis of ALS [220].…”

Section: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Als)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular mechanisms highlighting the potential role of COVID-19 in the development of neurodegenerative diseases

Rahmani

Ghashghayi

Zendehdel

et al. 2022

PhysInt

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In addition to the pulmonary manifestations, COVID-19 patients may present a wide range of neurological disorders as extrapulmonary presentations. In this view, several studies have recently documented the worsening of neurological symptoms within COVID-19 morbidity in patients previously diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). Moreover, several cases have also been reported in which the patients presented parkinsonian features after initial COVID-19 symptoms. These data raise a major concern about the possibility of communication between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the initiation and/or worsening of NDs. In this review, we have collected compelling evidence suggesting SARS-CoV-2, as an environmental factor, may be capable of developing NDs. In this respect, the possible links between SARS-CoV-2 infection and molecular pathways related to most NDs and the pathophysiological mechanisms of the NDs such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis will be explained.

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Predictors of self-perceived health worsening over COVID-19 emergency in ALS

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Accelerated Early Progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis over the COVID-19 Pandemic

Accelerated Early Progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis over the COVID-19 Pandemic

Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults With a Neurologically-Related Mobility Disability During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Analysis

Molecular mechanisms highlighting the potential role of COVID-19 in the development of neurodegenerative diseases

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