Abstract
To examine the psychological and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with established anxiety disorders during a period of stringent mandated social restrictions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 individuals attending the Galway-Roscommon Mental Health Services with an International Classification of Diseases diagnosis of an anxiety disorder to determine the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on anxiety and mood symptoms, social and occupational functioning and quality of life. Twelve (40.0%) participants described COVID-19 restrictions as having a deleterious impact on their anxiety symptoms. Likert scale measurements noted that the greatest impact of COVID-19 related to social functioning (mean = 4.5, SD = 2.9), with a modest deleterious effect on anxiety symptoms noted (mean = 3.8, SD = 2.9). Clinician rated data noted that 8 (26.7%) participants had disimproved and 14 (46.7%) participants had improved since their previous clinical review, prior to commencement of COVID-19 restrictions. Conditions associated with no 'trigger', such as generalised anxiety disorder, demonstrated a non-significant increase in anxiety symptoms compared to conditions with a 'trigger', such as obsessive compulsive disorder. Psychiatric or physical comorbidity did not substantially impact on symptomatology secondary to COVID-19 mandated restrictions. The psychological and social impact of COVID-19 restrictions on individuals with pre-existing anxiety disorders has been modest with only minimal increases in symptomatology or social impairment noted.
Highlights
The novel Coronavirus SarsCo-V2 was discovered in Wuhan in December 2019, following a cluster of patients who presented with severe viral pneumonia (Chan et al 2020)
As of the 12 May 2020, there were 4,275,588 cases and 287,670 deaths attributed to COVID-19 worldwide, with 23,242 confirmed cases and 1,488 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Ireland
There was no significant difference in terms of gender, age or anxiety disorder diagnosis between respondents and non-respondents
Summary
The novel Coronavirus SarsCo-V2 was discovered in Wuhan in December 2019, following a cluster of patients who presented with severe viral pneumonia (Chan et al 2020). The disease associated with COVID-19 spread rapidly in China with over 75,000 cases reported by 20 February 2020. The first case of COVID-19 was documented in the Republic of Ireland on 27 February 2020. As of the 12 May 2020, there were 4,275,588 cases and 287,670 deaths attributed to COVID-19 (www.worldometers.info) worldwide, with 23,242 confirmed cases and 1,488 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Ireland (www.gov.ie/en/news/7e0924latest-updates-on-covid-19-coronavirus). These figures likely underestimate the true case numbers given that many individuals are asymptomatic, have a relatively benign illness course requiring minimal or no medical management or engage in preventative measures despite symptomatology without testing for COVID-19
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