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Prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in chronically ill children and adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown: Preliminary findings of a pediatric hospital in Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

C. Correale ,
M. Di Pastena ,
I. Tondo ,
F. Milo ,
F. Santato ,
G. Amodeo ,
T. Grimaldi Capitello ,
F. Vigevano  and
S. Cappelletti
C. Correale*
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
M. Di Pastena
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
I. Tondo
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
F. Milo
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
F. Santato
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
G. Amodeo
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
T. Grimaldi Capitello
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
F. Vigevano
Affiliation:
Neurological Sciences, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
S. Cappelletti
Affiliation:
Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Rome, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Psychological problems are common among the pediatric population suffering from a chronic illness, especially compared to the normal population. Stressful life events, such as social distancing measures implemented to counter the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, can strongly influence their epidemiology.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence rate of depressive and anxiety symptoms among an Italian pediatric population affected by chronic illness and already under a Children Hospital psychological follow-up program during COVID-19 lockdown.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study among 54 Italian children and adolescents affected by chronic illness (mean age: 15y; range: 8.9-18y) during the COVID-19 epidemic period. We assessed depressive and anxiety symptoms with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorders (GAD-7) questionnaire during scheduled follow-up checks or teleconsulting.

Results

Preliminary results showed an elevated prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms (51% and 48% respectively) among chronically ill children during the COVID-19 outbreak. When compared with a non-ill pediatric population (Zhou et al. 2020), rates are + 7.3% higher for depression and + 10.6% for anxiety.

Conclusions

Chronic ill pediatric patients are a vulnerable group and require careful consideration. For this reason, the healthcare system should be able to implement and guarantee adequate mental health support programs and continuity of care. Further research is necessary since the COVID-19 outbreak could be repeated.

Keywords

COVID-19AnxietyDepressionpediatric chronic illness
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S272
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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