Introduction:
To mitigate the spread of the pandemic coronavirus infection (COVID-19), governments across the world have adopted “lockdowns” which have confined many individuals to their homes. This disrupts normal life routines, elements of which are important circadian cues. The pandemic is also associated with new stressors, altered roles, and uncertainties about health and economic security, which are also likely to affect sleep. The current study is an online survey of sleep experience, routines, physical activity, and symptoms of anxiety and depression, to study the alterations associated with the lockdown.
Materials and Methods:
The survey was conducted in early May 2020 using a questionnaire circulated through social media platforms. Questions related to demographic characteristics, current and previous sleep schedules, routine, and working patterns. Insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index - 4), Stress (Perceived Stress Scale - 4), anxiety and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire - 4) and physical activity (International Physical Activities Questionnaire) were assessed using standardized instruments.
Results:
A total of 958 valid responses were received. Compared to the prelockdown period, there was a shift to a later bedtime and waking time, with a reduction in night-time sleep and an increase in day-time napping. These effects were visible across occupational groups, but mostly affected working individuals except health professionals. Sleep quality deteriorated across groups. Reductions in sleep duration were associated with depressive symptoms.
Conclusions:
The COVID-19 lockdown is associated with changes in sleep schedule and in the quantity and quality of night-time sleep. Although these changes are associated with elevated rates of emotional symptoms, it is unclear from these cross-sectional results, whether sleep deterioration produces psychological distress, or vice versa.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation active was superior to sham stimulation for the amelioration of OCD symptoms. Trials had moderate heterogeneity results, despite different protocols of stimulation used. Further RCTs with larger sample sizes are fundamentally needed to clarify the precise impact of TMS in OCD symptoms.
Ever since Kiloh (1961)[2] coined the term pseudo-dementia, it has been used a little loosely for describing the cognitive deficits in depression, especially, which is found in old age. However, several diagnostic dilemmas persist regarding the nosological status of this condition. Teasing out these individual diagnostic problems is important not only for administering appropriate therapy, but also for preventing them from the unnecessary diagnostic assessments towards the other diagnoses. Thus, it is important to have a detailed knowledge of the cognitive or neuropsychological deficits in this condition. In this review, we start by addressing the important issue of diagnostic confusion between dementia and pseudo-dementia. Subsequently, we proceed by reviewing the present scientific literature on the cognitive deficits found in this clinical condition. For the sake of convenience, we will divide the cognitive deficits into:
Memory deficitsExecutive function deficits andDeficits in speech and language domains.
Finally, we will look at the progression of this condition to see the components of this condition, which can be actually called “Pseudo”.
Background:
Psychological factors have been prominently implicated in the causation as well as maintenance of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Studies comparing psychiatric morbidity in IBS with healthy controls have reported contrasting findings. The current study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with IBS in comparison to healthy controls and to explore the relationship, if any, of anxiety and depression with various subtypes of IBS.
Materials and Methods:
Fifty consecutive patients of IBS (diagnosed as per Rome III criteria) between 18 and 65 years of age and fifty age- and sex-matched healthy controls were assessed for the presence of anxiety and depression using Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAMA) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), respectively.
Results:
The patient group scored higher than controls (
P
< 0.001) in both HAMA and HAMD scores. The HAMA scores were significantly higher (
P
< 0.001) in the severe IBS group compared to those with moderate IBS. HAMA scores predicted 25.6% (
R
2
= 0.256) of variance in IBS severity scores. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of HAMD scores.
Conclusion:
The high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities such as anxiety and depression in IBS samples in our study provides evidence in favor of proper screening for these disorders in gastrointestinal clinics. Recognition and treatment for these comorbidities can improve the quality of life as well as overall outcomes.
Background:Prevalence estimates of conduct disorder, one of the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric conditions in children, vary widely from 0.2% to 8.7%.Aim:To find out the prevalence of conduct disorder and its DSM-IV subtypes and comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 4 schools of Kanke block among students of classes V to X.Methods:A total of 240 students, selected by stratified random sampling, were subjected to the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children: Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) screening interview. Nineteen students who qualified were subjected to conduct disorder and ADHD supplement of K-SADS-PL with additional information from parents.Results:Conduct disorder was found in 4.58%; the ratio of boys to girls being 4.5:1. Childhood onset was found in 73% and adolescent onset in 27%. Mild conduct disorder was found in 36%, moderate in 64% and severe conduct disorder in none. Comorbid ADHD was found in 36%, hyperactive-impulsive being predominant. Significant difference was found in temperament between students with and without conduct disorder with difficult temperament predominating in the former and easy in the latter (p=0.004). Lying, bullying and cruelty to animals were most frequent symptoms.Conclusion:The prevalence of conduct disorder was 4.58%, more common in boys, the majority had childhood onset, and one-third had comorbid ADHD.
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