Abstract
BackgroundPrevious research revealed an absence of any previous studies reporting the impact that pandemics may have on psychotic symptomology, nor on the physical health of people with psychosis in response to the epidemics of the COVID-19. The direction of the impact of the COVID-19 on schizophrenia is unknown, as the risk of infection could vary from patients to patients according to clinical comorbidities, cognitive impairment, acute symptoms, and family support. To the best of our knowledge, no study has provided details on the variation of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia during the quarantine of COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, the primary objective of the study is to investigate the variation of psychotic symptoms, depression, obsession and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia before and after 5 months of quarantine and evaluate factors associated with these variations during the quarantine period.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 190 chronic patients institutionalized for schizophrenia for more than 1 year at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross. The baseline assessment was done in December 2019; the second assessment was done in August 2020 (5 months after the lockdown).ResultsGetting updates about the coronavirus minimally, some and most of the times were significantly associated with a decrease in positive psychotic and psychopathologic symptoms 5 months after quarantine compared to before it. Practicing religiosity some and all the time versus not was significantly associated with a decrease in negative, psychopathology symptoms and total PANSS score after 5 months of quarantine compared to before it. Finally, female gender (B = 1.77) was significantly associated with an increase in the WHO Domain 3 score (better social relations) after 5 months of quarantine compared to before it.ConclusionPatients with schizophrenia fare better symptomatically after 5 months of quarantine if they receive constant updates about COVID-19 and if they tended to practice religiosity.
Highlights
Previous research revealed an absence of any previous studies reporting the impact that pandemics may have on psychotic symptomology, nor on the physical health of people with psychosis in response to the epidemics of the COVID-19
Adjusted variables: gender, corona knowledge, visits to the hospital, corona updates, religion and age Discussion As psychiatric patients remain a vulnerable population especially during the COVID-19 quarantine with little research having been conducted on patients with schizophrenia, this study assessed the variation of psychotic symptoms—both positive and negative (PANSS), depression, obsession and quality of life amongst patients with schizophrenia before and after 5 months of quarantine
Our study has suggested that patients with schizophrenia fare better symptomatically after 5 months of quarantine if they receive constant updates about COVID-19 and more so if they tended to practice religiosity
Summary
Previous research revealed an absence of any previous studies reporting the impact that pandemics may have on psychotic symptomology, nor on the physical health of people with psychosis in response to the epidemics of the COVID-19. The production of a vaccine is ongoing, public health strategies such as quarantine and social distancing have been implemented in almost every country to prevent the spread of the disease. Social distancing can be the most effective way to prevent the virus from spreading. This measure is associated with a variety of psychological effects such as fear and anxiety [4, 5]. Such impacts can vary across populations in patients with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia
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