As the pandemic has led to unprecedented hazards to mental health globally, experts from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) have conducted research on prevalence of different mental health issues among patients with COVID-19.
One study has assessed the prevalence of depression and anxiety and another study on hypomania.
The first study has revealed that prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms is high among the study participants while the second study reveals that association of mania or hypomania with COVID-19 may be spurious or causal.
Both studies’ results were published in Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press’s ‘QScience’ platform.
The study on prevalence of depression and anxiety among male patients with COVID-19 in Lebsayyer Field Hospital aimed to assess the prevalence of depression and anxiety among male patients with COVID-19 and explore their relationship with participants’ characteristics.
It was conducted among 400 expatriate male patients with COVID-19 admitted to Lebsayyer Field Hospital in Qatar with mild COVID-19 from July till August 2020. The sample size was calculated using Cochran’s formula based on disease prevalence.
Among the participants 37.0%, 19.3% were reported depressive and had anxiety symptoms, respectively. Depression was more prevalent among those 40–49 years old while anxiety was more prevalent among people aged 50 and above.
According to study findings, “Both depression and anxiety were more prevalent among Bangladeshi, followed by Filipino participants. Depression was more prevalent among those with the highest income in contrast to anxiety, which was more prevalent among those with the lowest monthly income.”
In conclusion, the study findings revealed that prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms is high among the study participants. Associated factors identified by the study were unsteady income, poor self-rated health, Southeast Asian ethnicity, and age group of 40–49 years. Another study was on ‘Mania and hypomania associated with COVID-19: a series of 15 cases seen by the consultation-liaison psychiatry service in Qatar.’
The study aimed to report clinical characteristics of 15 consecutive cases of COVID-19-associated mania or hypomania seen in three general hospitals in Qatar in the early months of the pandemic in 2020.
It is a retrospective case-note review of 15 cases of COVID-19-associated mania or hypomania (confirmed by polymerase chain reaction test), seen as inpatient consultations out of the first 100 consecutive patients managed by consultation-liaison psychiatric teams in Qatar between March 2, 2020 and July 7, 2020.
Among the participants, 12 patients had mania, and three had hypomania. In conclusion that study said that association of mania or hypomania with COVID-19 may be spurious. The reported cases illustrate a range of potential aetiological mechanisms by which COVID-19 could cause mania or hypomania.
Cohort studies are necessary to determine the incidence, aetiology and prognosis of COVID-19-associated hypomania.
