Perceived empowerment and the impact of negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life of persons with severe mental illness

Results from a randomized controlled trial investigating effectiveness of a community-based intervention on empowerment of people with severe mental illness

PURPOSE

The effectiveness of community mental health services with respect to enhancing empowerment among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) has rarely been investigated. In this multicenter trial the effectiveness of a community mental health intervention (acronym: GBV) added to treatment as usual (TAU) compared to TAU alone was investigated.

METHODS

In a randomized controlled multicenter trial with twelve sites spread across Germany, people living with SMI aged 18-82 years were investigated over 24 months. The trial was conducted from 2020 to 2023, a time period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The intervention was delivered by multiprofessional GBV teams based on the Functional Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) program and was supplemented by strategies that increase the degree of self-determination. The primary outcome was measured by the Assessment of Empowerment in Patients with Affective and Schizophrenic Disorders (EPAS). Difference in difference (DiD) effect sizes were estimated on an intention-to-treat basis.

RESULTS

A total of 929 persons with SMI were randomly assigned to the GBV plus TAU intervention (n = 470) or to TAU alone (n = 459). The dropout rate over 24 months amounted to 28%. DiD effect sizes over 24 months indicate significant treatment effects for empowerment (d = 0.27; 95% CI = 0.14 0.40). Serious adverse events (SAE) were reported for 15 (3.2%) participants in the GBV + TAU vs. 17 (3.7%) in the TAU group.

CONCLUSION

The addition of GBV to TAU, for patients with SMI, can be recommended as an effective measure to improve key psychosocial outcomes in mental health care settings across Germany.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

German Clinical Trial Register, DRKS00019086. Registered on 3 January 2020, https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00019086 .

Changes in the number and characteristics of tertiary hospital psychiatric admissions in south Croatia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

There is mixed evidence on the impact of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on psychiatric hospital care for people with severe mental diseases, possibly due to regional differences. There is a significant gap in knowledge regarding the specific impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in Croatia, a country in South-Eastern Europe. Our study aimed to evaluate the number and characteristics of psychiatric hospitalizations in the year before and during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital in south Croatia.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study of adult psychiatric hospitalizations at the University Hospital of Split, Croatia. Sociodemographic and clinical data of inpatients during the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak (March 1, 2020 - March 1, 2021) and the year before the pandemic (March 1, 2019 - February 29, 2020) were compared. Incidence rate ratio (IRR) was used to compare the number of hospitalizations; while sociodemographic and hospitalization characteristics were compared between the two periods with the Mann-Whitney U test or chi-squared test, as appropriate.

RESULTS

A significant reduction in hospitalization rate was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic (IRR = 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.67-0.78, P < 0.0001). Compared to the year before the pandemic, hospitalizations due to suicidality increased almost 3 times, while hospitalizations due to both autoagression and heteroagression increased almost 4 times (P = 0.000). The proportion of hospitalized patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizotypal, and delusional disorders was significantly higher during the pandemic (61% vs. 52%), while neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders decreased significantly (5.9% vs. 10%, P = 0.001). Furthermore, inpatients during the COVID-19 year were younger (P = 0.004), more educated (P = 0.040), had a higher prevalence of personal history of psychiatric diseases (P = 0.024), and experienced longer hospital stays (P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant reduction in the psychiatric hospitalization rate at a tertiary university hospital in Croatia, with an increase in patients presenting with suicidality, aggression, and severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, schizotypal, and delusional disorders. These findings could help healthcare systems better adapt to the needs of the most vulnerable patients and address challenges in maintaining continuity of psychiatric care during public health crises.

Clinical characteristics of people presenting with first episode psychosis pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown experience may have not only precipitated or exacerbated mental illness but also influenced access to care and the nature and content of the psychotic symptomatology of people with psychosis.

AIM

This study aimed to evaluate the association of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown experience on clinical presentation and quality of life of people (QOL) with first episode psychosis (FEP).

METHOD

Two first episode psychosis cohorts from the same epidemiological area collected prior to, and during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown were compared in terms of clinical symptomatology, substance use and QOL. All adult in- and outpatients with FEP at five clinical units in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, aged between 18 and 45 years, were assessed with the MINI interview for psychosis, Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale, WHO Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) and the WHO QOL scales.

RESULTS

Eighty-eight FEP participants were recruited between 2019 and 2020 (cohort 1) before the pandemic. Study recruitment was suspended in March 2020 due to the pandemic. On study resumption from November 2020 to November 2022, 95 new participants (cohort 2) were recruited. There were no sociodemographic differences between the two cohorts, except unemployment status (57% vs. 65%) and household income. The cohort presenting post-COVID-19 pandemic onset had significantly more positive psychotic symptoms (21.9 vs. 23.7), lower PANSS domain depressive score, more lifetime use of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol. However, they reported improved QOL (196 vs. 239).

CONCLUSION

Following the pandemic and lockdown experience participants presented with more severe psychotic symptoms and concomitant substance use but improved perceived QOL. This suggests the need to explore individual and social factors that may influence the clinical presentation.

Oxytocin as a transdiagnostic biomarker of well-being in severe mental illness during the Covid-19 pandemic

Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) have been found to suffer a greater decline in psychological well-being compared to the general population in times of stress. The present study aimed to examine clinical and endocrine resilience factors of psychological well-being in SMI patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.

METHODS

After Covid-19 crisis outburst in Israel 112 participants, 69 outpatients, and 43 inpatients and day treatment patients were recruited. Outpatients signed an online informed consent and filled in questionnaires regarding their level of mental health symptoms (OQ-45), fear of Covid-19 (FCV), and psychological well-being (PWB). Inpatients answered the same questionnaires and in addition, went through a positive social interaction paradigm while providing three saliva samples to measure their s-IgA and oxytocin (OT) levels.

RESULTS

A strong negative correlation was found in the whole sample between reported mental health symptoms, fear of Covid-19, and well-being. Hierarchical regression did not find additional contribution of the fear of the pandemic in predicting well-being beyond the impact of symptomatology. For inpatients (N = 39) only, hierarchical regression found that oxytocin, but not s-IgA could explain 5% of the variance of well-being (R2 = 0.05) in individuals with SMI regardless of their mental health symptoms (R2 = 0.46) and their marital status (R2 = 0.21).

CONCLUSIONS

OT is suggested as a possible independent biological resilience factor of well-being in times of major stress among SMI patients. It is still unknown whether OT is a mediator that contributes to well-being or a biological marker that indicates the degree of beneficial social interactions.

Burnout, resilience, and empowerment among COVID-19 survivor nurses in Indonesia

The primary frontline healthcare providers who have frequent contact with COVID-19 patients are nurses. Many nurses have been infected with COVID-19 and have experienced severe emotional exhaustion and burnout. It is essential to assess nurses' psychological health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to analyze the factors associated with burnout, resilience, and empowerment among Indonesian COVID-19 nurse survivors. In this cross-sectional study, 182 COVID-19 survivor nurses participated from September to November 2022 with convenience sampling. An online survey using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES) were used to collect data. The data were analyzed using descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses. The majority of the nurses were aged between 30-45 years (61.6%), and females (67.4%) experienced burnout. Higher resilience was found among nurses contracting COVID-19 (83.1%). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the absence of psychological impact (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.21-0.93) is significantly related to higher burnout experience. In addition, workplace, especially in hospital (OR = 4.32, 95% CI = 1.09-17.09) was associated with resilience, and a gap time after receiving negative COVID-19 result (OR = 3.90, 95% CI = 1.27-12.03) was correlated with psychological empowerment, in our results 4-6 month after had a negative result was at higher risk. To maintain a positive psychological aspect for COVID-19 nurse survivors, it needs to implement psychological support in the workplace and ensure an appropriate workload of nurse professionals.