Clinical trial NCT04497636: Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Migrants in Chile
Official title: Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Immigrants in Santiago, Chile (STRING-COVID)
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Anxiety
Depression
Stress, Psychological
Loneliness
Social Isolation
Keywords: Migrants
Depression
Anxiety
COVID-19
Within-group longitudinal design
Lead sponsor: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, Chile
First posted: 2020-08-04
Enrollment: 1092
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: The STRING cohort is comonsed of 1,092 adults residing in private households in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile who were born outside of Chile and had lived in the country for at least 3 months in the first wave.

Brief summary: The mental health of a representative sample of immigrants residing in Santiago, Chile (STRING cohort) was assessed nine months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (T0). Evidence suggests that social isolation affects mental health by increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression. One of the main components of the current COVID-19 pandemic is the social isolation imposed on the population. This study seeks to explore the short (T1) and long-term (T2) effects of the pandemic on the psychological wellbeing of the cohort.

Specific aims are to

1. Describe the variations in the levels of mental health problems (i.e. symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, sleep difficulties) and wellbeing of immigrants during the first (T1) and second follow-up (T2)
2. Calculate the short (T1) and long-term (T2) effects of social isolation on the levels of mental health problems of the immigrant population, and
3. Identify risk / protective factors associated with a short (T1) and long-term (T2) increase in mental health problems

Detailed description: Participants were interviewed at baseline (T0) 8 months before the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey will be applied in two follow-up moments during the pandemic:

1. At 9 months (also 1 month after lockdown measures imposed) (T1)
2. At 18 months (also 10 months after lockdown measures imposed) (T2)

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Country of birth other than Chile
* Time since arrival to Chile: 3 months (at baseline)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Unable to understand Spanish

Primary outcomes:
measure: Depressive symptoms
timeFrame: Month 1 (T1) and month 10 (T2)
measure: Symptoms of anxiety
timeFrame: Month 1 (T1) and month 10 (T2)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
timeFrame: Month 1 (T1) and month 10 (T2)
measure: Changes in sleep difficulties
timeFrame: Month 1 (T1) and month 10 (T2)
measure: Changes in hazardous and harmful alcohol drinking
timeFrame: Month 1 (T1) and month 10 (T2)
measure: Changes in loneliness
timeFrame: Month 1 (T1) and month 10 (T2)
measure: Change in general physical and mental health
timeFrame: Change from last 2 weeks before pandemic to month 1 (T1) and month 10 (T2)
measure: Change in mental health symptoms from last 2 weeks before the pandemic to the last 2 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic at T1 and T2.
timeFrame: Change from last 2 weeks before pandemic to month 1 (T1) and to month 10 (T2).
measure: Change in mental health well-being from last 2 weeks before the pandemic to the last 2 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic at T1 and T2.
timeFrame: Change from last 2 weeks before pandemic to month 1 (T1) and to month 10 (T2).
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Santiago
country: Chile
facility: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
state: RM
Study officials:
affiliation: Universidad Catolica de Chile
name: Antonia Errazuriz, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: