Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Patients in Opioid Substitution Treatment

IntroductionThe many negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic especially on vulnerable groups like patients suffering from drug addiction have been anticipated by experts early on. While drug consumption patterns of patients in opioid substitution treatment (OST, N=24) seemed hardly influenced...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European psychiatry 2022-06, Vol.65 (S1), p.S378-S378
Main Authors: Rosenleitner, J., Fuchs-Leitner, I., Gerstgrasser, N., Yazdi, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abstract
Anxiety
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
DAS-21
E-Poster Presentation
Mental depression
Mental health
Narcotics
Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST)
Pandemics
Post traumatic stress disorder
PTSD
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Summary:IntroductionThe many negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic especially on vulnerable groups like patients suffering from drug addiction have been anticipated by experts early on. While drug consumption patterns of patients in opioid substitution treatment (OST, N=24) seemed hardly influenced at the early stage of the pandemic in Austria, the impact on the mental health of this population remained unclear.ObjectivesThe main goal was to investigate long-term consequences of the pandemic in terms of PTSD and clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress among patients in OST between December 2020 and February 2021.MethodsIn a cross-sectional survey study (N=123) an adapted version of the impact of event scale (IES-R) was applied to evaluate PTSD symptoms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical symptoms were assessed by the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21), and respective changes due to the pandemic were documented. Sociodemographic and COVID-19 related factors, as well as data on drug consumption patterns were collected.ResultsA binary logistic regression analysis confirmed the negative long-term consequences of psychological and economic COVID-19 related factors on a higher risk for PTSD due to the pandemic. The high-risk PTSD group also demonstrated higher levels and a deterioration of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms since the pandemic.ConclusionsAmong our sample of patients in OST, 27% were at risk of PTSD due to the pandemic, and 30 to 50% reported concerning levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Health care facilities might use these findings as a valuable source of information, when special attention is needed.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
ISSN:0924-9338
1778-3585
DOI:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.958