When time worsens framing: a longitudinal analysis of the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in women with an eating disorder and their healthy sisters

Meneguzzo, Paolo; Ceccato, Enrico; Sala, Alessandra; Santonastaso, Paolo

doi:10.1007/s00737-023-01398-x

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This disparity can be due to both the direct consequences of the infection. Indeed, fatigue and sleep quality impairment are among the most reported symptoms in females, being related to COVID-19 severity [72] and usually associated with anxiety and depression [73], along with the greater prevalence of eating disorders in females than males [74][75][76]. Also, as a secondary effect of the pandemic, the most general condition of women in family, work, and society, at least in Italy, contributed to a higher number of women, compared to men, being forced to permanently abandon their jobs due to the need to take care of their children because of schools closures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of post-acute, mid-and long-term psychological sequelae of COVID-19: A two-year cross-sectional investigation on 1317 patients at the University Hospital of Verona

Perlini,

Marcanti,

Zonta

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The present paper focuses on socio-demographics, clinical variables, and the distance from the infection in predicting the long-term psycho-social consequences of COVID-19. Methods Patients were screened with a cross-sectional design at the Psychological Service of the University Hospital of Verona (Italy) at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after their SARS-CoV-2 infection. The assessment was part of the Horizon 2020-funded ORCHESTRA Project and included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and ad-hoc questions measuring pre-post COVID-19 changes on psycho-social dimensions (sleep quality, nutrition, level of autonomy, work, social relationships, emotional wellbeing). Results Between June 2021 and June 2023, we evaluated 1317 patients (mean age 56.6 ± 14.8 years; 48% male): 35% at three months, 40% at 6, 20% at 12, and 5% at 18 months after the infection. Thirty-five percent were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Overall, 16% reported some form of clinically significant mental distress following the infection (HADS-TOT), with 13% and 6%, respectively, experiencing anxiety (HADS-Anxiety) and depressive symptoms (HADS-Depression). Four percent testified post-traumatic symptoms. The SF-36 scale revealed that 16% and 17% of subjects had physical or psychological deterioration in quality of life, respectively. The regression analyses showed that females experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression compared to males, along with worse mental and physical quality of life and pre-post infection changes in nearly all the investigated psycho-social dimensions. Younger people felt more anxiety and had a reduced mental quality of life than their older counterparts, who, in turn, had poorer scores in terms of autonomy and physical functioning. Hospitalized patients had lower levels of self-sufficiency, social relationships, and work than non-hospitalized people. The latter were more anxious and reported a lower physical quality of life. Finally, patients evaluated for the first time at 12- and 18 months showed a more significant impairment in mental and physical quality of life than those assessed at three months. Conclusions our data show that COVID-19 psychological sequelae tend to persist over time, still needing clinical attention and intervention planning, especially for females.

show abstract