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Background There is a lack of data concerning impact of COVID-19 among older adults (OA) living at long-term care (LTC) centers. This study investigated how COVID-19 has affected this population. The prevalence of and risk factors for post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety were investigated. Methods A semi-structured interview to determine the effect of COVID-19 was conducted to 200 OA at two government LTC centers. The 17-item Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale were used to evaluate post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety, respectively. Results Most OA reported moderate or severe impact of COVID-19. The most impacted area was financial due to decreased support from outside the center. Seventy percent of OA reported no or mild psychological stress from COVID-19; however, 5.5% had post-traumatic stress, 7.0% had depression, and 12.0% had anxiety. Higher psychological stress from COVID-19 and having respiratory tract infection symptoms were independently associated with post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. Receiving COVID-19 news via social media was independently associated with post-traumatic stress and depression. Having psychiatric comorbidity was independently associated with depression. Conclusions OA living in LTC centers reported moderate or severe impact from COVID-19, especially financial, but relatively low psychological stress. Psychological stress from COVID-19, having respiratory tract infection symptoms, and receiving COVID-19 news via social media were risk factors for psychological disorders. Limitations The data reflected the post-outbreak period. There is limitation in the generalizability of the results for other countries with different health care systems.

This study aimed to compare drug adherence behaviors during the sixth week between patients with first diagnosed major depressive disorder who received the Drug Adherence Enhancement Program and those who received only the usual care. A randomized clinical trial, post-test only design was conducted in the outpatient-unit of a medical school hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. The experimental and control groups consisted of 30 and 26 participants respectively. Participants in the experimental group exhibited significantly higher drug adherence behaviors than the control group. This is important for nurses in promoting adherence to antidepressant drugs for patients with first diagnosed major depressive disorder.

1, 17, Journal of Mental Health of Thailand

To search for a simple, practical and appropriate instrument for the assessment of depression among Thai SCI patients: comparison between two self-rating instruments.Eighty-three SCI patients were asked to complete a questionnaire composed of the Thai depression inventory (TDI) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Thai version. All subjects were interviewed by a psychiatrist and were diagnosed according to the categories of depression of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental fourth edition, (DSM-IV).Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and Logistic regression analysis.Twenty patients were confirmed to have a depressed mood or adjustment disorder. The area under the ROC curve for the CES-D and TDI was 0.826 and 0.827. The sensitivities and specificities of the CES-D and TDI were 80.0, 69.8 per cent and 70.0, 79.4 per cent respectively. The positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the two tests were 45.7, 91.7 per cent and 51.9, 89.3 per cent. Using Logistic regression analysis, the CES-D produces a better model than the TDI (Chi-square value = 23.196 and 4.578).The CES-D is more appropriate for screening for depression in SCI patients than the TDI.

The purposes of this study were to study the prevalence and incidence of depression in elderly Thais. A field survey study was implemented. The sample consisted of 1,713 elderly people in 35 communities from 4 districts surrounding Siriraj Hospital Bangkok Noi, Bangkok Yai, Taling Chun and Bang Plud. These areas are the peripheral part of Bangkok and most of them have extended family. The Thai Geriatric Depression Scale (TGDS) and the Thai Mini Mental State Examination (TMSE) were used as screening tests, for data collection. The prevalence of depression was 12.78 per cent, of which 8.23 per cent had only depressive symptomatology (male 5.43%, female 9.63%) while 4.55 per cent had both depression and cognitive impairment (male 2.8%, female 5.54%). The point incidence (one year) of depression was 7.27 (male 1.58%, female 5.68%). The major contributing factors in depression were financial, poor family relationships and physical illness. The prevention and management of these factors may bring about a better quality of life for the elderly in Thailand.