Impact of COVID-19 related lockdown on cognition and emotion: A pilot study

COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge in front of the world contributed mostly by social distancing and lockdown. Among several other effects this pandemic has wreaked havoc on the psychology and cognition of people across the globe. In this paper we attempted to find out the impact of lockdown and social isolation on the cognition and emotion of young healthy adults with high education (n=43) by means of a questionnaire sent through email. We found that more than 50% of the participants had some kind of emotional or cognitive (dysexecutive) symptoms, as calculated through emotional symptom index (ESI) and cognitive symptom index (CSI). The correlation between cognitive and emotional symptoms was also found to be moderately strong (0.59). Although it is a pilot study and larger samples are required to draw firm conclusion, the results argue in favor of a negative impact on the cognition and emotion of healthy educated young people caused by the COVID-19 related lockdown. It can be conjectured that, if taking an older sample with a lower education, emotional and cognitive changes would be more evident.

Psychiatric outcomes after pediatric sports-related concussion

OBJECT The objectives of this study were twofold: 1) to examine the prevalence of emotional symptoms among children and adolescents with a sports-related concussion (SRC) who were referred to a multidisciplinary pediatric concussion program and 2) to examine the prevalence, clinical features, risk factors, and management of postinjury psychiatric outcomes among those in this clinical population. METHODS The authors conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients with SRC referred to a multidisciplinary pediatric concussion program between September 2013 and October 2014. Clinical assessments carried out by a single neurosurgeon included clinical history, physical examination, and Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) scoring. Postinjury psychiatric outcomes were defined as a subjective worsening of symptoms of a preinjury psychiatric disorder or new and isolated suicidal ideation or diagnosis of a novel psychiatric disorder (NPD). An NPD was defined as a newly diagnosed psychiatric disorder that occurred in a patient with or without a lifetime preinjury psychiatric disorder after a concussion. Clinical resources, therapeutic interventions, and clinical and return-to-play outcomes are summarized. RESULTS One hundred seventy-four patients (mean age 14.2 years, 61.5% male) were included in the study. At least 1 emotional symptom was reported in 49.4% of the patients, and the median emotional PCSS subscore was 4 (interquartile range 1–8) among those who reported at least 1 emotional symptom. Overall, 20 (11.5%) of the patients met the study criteria for a postinjury psychiatric outcome, including 14 patients with an NPD, 2 patients with isolated suicidal ideation, and 4 patients with worsening symptoms of a preinjury psychiatric disorder. Female sex, a higher initial PCSS score, a higher emotional PCSS subscore, presence of a preinjury psychiatric history, and presence of a family history of psychiatric illness were significantly associated with postinjury psychiatric outcomes. Interventions for patients with postinjury psychiatric outcomes included pharmacological therapy alone in 2 patients (10%), cognitive behavioral therapy alone in 4 (20%), multimodal therapy in 9 (45%), and no treatment in 5 (25%). Overall, 5 (25%) of the patients with postinjury psychiatric disorders were medically cleared to return to full sports participation, whereas 5 (25%) were lost to follow-up and 9 (45%) remained in treatment by the multidisciplinary concussion program at the end of the study period. One patient who was asymptomatic at the time of initial consultation committed suicide. CONCLUSIONS Emotional symptoms were commonly reported among pediatric patients with SRC referred to a multidisciplinary pediatric concussion program. In some cases, these symptoms contributed to the development of an NPD, isolated suicidal ideation, and worsening symptoms of a preexisting psychiatric disorder. Future research is needed to clarify the prevalence, pathophysiology, risk factors, and evidence-based management of postinjury psychiatric outcomes after pediatric SRC. Successful management of these patients requires prompt recognition and multidisciplinary care by experts with clinical training and experience in concussion and psychiatry.

Mental health status of primary school children of Chittagong town

A total of 197 respondents (129 parents of boys and 68 parents of girls) constituted the sample of the study. To measure mental health status, Bengali version of (Mullick, 2001) Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used for the collection of data which was originally developed by Michael Rutter and Robert Goodman. Purposive sampling procedure was used for this purpose. The results showed that about 20.3% students had pro-social problem and 19.3% students were in borderline level in pro-social behavior. Only 0.5% students had Peer problems and 15.7% students were found at borderline level of this problem. About 6.6% students had hyperactivity problem and about 5.6% students were found at borderline level of this problem. About 1.5% students had Emotional symptom problem and 0.5% students were found at borderline level. About 19.3% students had conduct problem and 23.9% students were in borderline level of this problem. About 27.4% students were facing total difficulties problems and 38.1% students were in borderline level. In terms of above all mental health status, boys were found to have more problems than girls. But no significant differences were found between boys and girls at any dimension score or even total difficulties score. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cujbs.v6i1-2.17238 The Chittagong Univ. J. B. Sci.,Vol. 6(1&2):119-133, 2011