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Detrimental Effects Of Social Isolation And Quarantine Found!

by Karishma Abhishek on May 26 2021 11:53 PM

Social isolation and quarantine can have a detrimental impact on the physical and mental health of people living with pre-existing conditions quarantine throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

Detrimental Effects Of Social Isolation And Quarantine Found!
Social isolation and quarantine can have a detrimental impact on the physical and mental health of people living with pre-existing conditions, as per two studies presented at the 23rd European Congress of Endocrinology (e-ECE 2021).
Studies on "Impact of social isolation and quarantine on the course of diabetes mellitus and its complications during COVID-19 pandemic" in Adjara Region Country of Georgia and "Psychological distress in patients with hypocortisolism during mass quarantine for COVID-19 epidemic" in Italy bring together data on the pandemic contribution towards significant psychological and/or physical distress on the observed individuals.

Diabetes and COVID-19 Pandemic

The study in the Adjara Region disseminated an online questionnaire and answers were collected from 16 endocrinologists and 22 family and general practice doctors. It reported a list of negative effects such as reduced access to medical care, weight gain, and increased cigarette and alcohol consumption. The study thereby states that the impact of quarantine on people living with diabetes caused blood pressure (BP) levels to increase in 88.2% of patients with 50% of these cases resulting in high BP hospitalization.

Increased feelings of anxiety and fear were observed in 82% of patients. And physical activity decreased by 29.8%, a vital preventative to further physical and psychological problems.

"This study highlights that people living with diabetes require greater support during pandemics to maintain exercise and protect their physical and mental health. National health services should use these data and future studies to implement better social care around supporting people with pre-existing conditions," says Dr. Liana Jashi, author of the first study, Georgia.

Hypocortisolism and COVID-19 Pandemic

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In the second study, the web-survey-based data was collected from a large cohort of 478 patients with hypocortisolism involving 12 different Italian centers during the last three weeks of the mass quarantine that lasted 2 months in Italy. Particularly, 363 patients with adrenal insufficiency and 115 with congenital adrenal hyperplasia were included and adequately treated with glucocorticoids.

It was shown that patients with hypocortisolism experienced increased anxiety and depression, associated with a dissatisfied feeling of self and a reduced resiliency, when compared to healthy controls. Moreover, patients with adrenal insufficiency reported a worse quality of life than patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

"These findings confirmed that beyond the huge impact on physical health, COVID-19 epidemic, social isolation, and mass quarantine represent significant psychological stressors, causing severe effects on mental health, even more on people with pre-existing conditions. An empowerment of psychological counseling for these vulnerable patients during COVID-19 should be considered by national health-care services," says Dr. Chiara Simeoli, author of the second study, Italy.

However further studies are required over a longer period to validate the results.

Source-Medindia



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