The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Schizophrenia Patients Registered With the Community Mental Health Center
Condition: Schizophrenia
MeSH terms: COVID-19; Schizophrenia
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      This study aimed to examine the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on schizophrenia patients
      registered to the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in terms of depression, suicide risk,
      and tendency to violence.
    

Detailed description: 
      The study was conducted on patients registered to the Ministry of Health Kartal Dr. Lütfi
      Kırdar City Hospital Adatepe Community Mental Health Center and was followed up regularly. It
      was carried out on 108 individuals who met the diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the
      DSM-V (American Psychiatric Association 2013) and met the inclusion criteria. Individuals who
      were respectively classified as hospitalized group (HG) during the Covid-19 pandemic period
      (n=39), non-hospitalized with emergency care group (NHECG) without hospitalization (n=37),
      and non-hospitalized with non-emergency care group (NHNECG) (n=32). Individuals who had been
      diagnosed with schizophrenia for at least two years, were not in the active phase of the
      disease, did not have organic mental disorders, did not have any other psychiatric diseases
      were included in the study. In the study, the Socio-Demographic Questionnaire, the Calgary
      Depression Scale in Schizophrenia (CDSS), the Buss-perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), and
      the Suicide Probability Scale (SPS) were used.
    

Intervention name(s): Hospitalized; Non-hospitalized with emergency care; Non-hospitalized and non-emergency care
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other
Intervention description(s): It was developed by Addington et al. (1994) to measure the presence of depression and the severity of depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The scale consists of 9 items to assess depression and is answered with a four-point Likert scale. The validity and reliability of the scale in schizophrenia patients in the Turkish population was determined by Oksay et al. by (2000). In the reliability study, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.88. The cut-off point of the scale was stated as 11.; It is adapted from the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory by Buss and Perry (1992), the scale consists of 29 items and five-point Likert types. The scale is physical and verbal aggression, hostility, and anger. Questions 9 and 16 on the scale are reverse scored. The score value on the scale varies in direct proportion to the aggression, that is, the higher the score, the higher the aggression. The Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficients of the original version of the scale is defined as; 0.89 for physical aggression, 0.85 for physical aggression, 0.72 for verbal aggression, 0.77 for hostility, 0.83 for anger subscale.; Developed by Cull and Gill (1989), it evaluates the probability of suicide in adolescents and adults. The Turkish validity and reliability of the scale were performed by Atlı et al (2009). The scale consists of 36 items and is answered as a four-point Likert-type scale as "never or rarely", "sometimes", "often" and "often or always".
Observational model: Case-Control
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        receiving service and having been diagnosed with schizophrenia for at least two years by
        psychiatry who works from Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital Adatepe CMHC