Study Data from Harvard Medical School Update Knowledge of COVID-19 (COVID-19 stressors and one-year changes in depression and anxiety in a longitudinal cohort of low-income adults in the United States): Coronavirus – COVID-19

2022 APR 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in coronavirus. According to news reporting from the Harvard Medical School by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Emerging data suggest that adults with low income are at highest risk for COVID-19-related stressors and mental health disorders. This study aimed to determine if COVID-19-related stressors were associated with worsening depression and anxiety in a cohort of low-income adults one year after the start of the pandemic.”

Financial supporters for this research include National Institutes of Health Funder DOI: 10.13039/100000002 Award:.

The news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Harvard Medical School: “Participants included 253 Medicaid and commercial accountable care organization recipients from 5 community health centers around Boston, MA who enrolled December 2019-March 2020 in a larger longitudinal study of a Medicaid program. Participants completed surveys at baseline and one-year follow-up that measured depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-8 [PHQ-8]) and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 [GAD-7]) symptoms. Follow-up surveys assessed COVID-19-related stressors experienced over the prior 12 months. A stressor score included COVID-19-related infectious, social, and economic stressors categorized into tertiles (low, 0-3; medium, 4-6; high, 7-19).Mean age (SD) was 45.2 (11.5) years; 71.2% were female, 42.3% Hispanic and 14.6% Black. At baseline, 126 (49.8%) had moderate or severe depression (PHQ-8 10), and 109 (43.1%) had moderate or severe anxiety (GAD-7 10). The mean (SD) number of COVID-19 stressors was 4.9 (3.1); the most frequent were food insecurity (52.2%) and job or income loss (43.9%). Compared to the low tertile, those in high and medium tertiles had significantly greater one-year increases in depression and anxiety symptoms.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Low-income adults facing multiple COVID-19-related stressors, particularly health-related social needs, had worsening mental health symptoms over one year. Interventions are urgently needed to address the dual burden of health-related social needs and poor mental health exacerbated by COVID-19.”

For more information on this research see: COVID-19 stressors and one-year changes in depression and anxiety in a longitudinal cohort of low-income adults in the United States. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2022,26():101730. (Preventive Medicine Reports - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/preventive-medicine-reports/). The publisher for Preventive Medicine Reports is Elsevier.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101730.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Vicki Fung, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Additional authors for this research include Anne N. Thorndike, Jessica L. McCurley, Cheryl R. Clark, Sydney Howard, Douglas E. Levy.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)