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Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been identified as a global health problem with increasing mental health consequences. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Nigeria, couples were compelled to spend more time together, regardless of their pre-existing challenges. Our study aims to determine the prevalence of IPV, its forms, and mental health implications among Nigerian households amid the COVID-19 lockdown. A cross-sectional study was implemented which used the snowball sampling technique to recruit 474 participants across 31 states in Nigeria. A semi-structured online questionnaire was distributed using the WhatsApp platform. The relationship between IPV, its forms, and associated factors were analyzed using descriptive analysis and logistic regression with significant value at p ≤ .05 and confidence interval of 95%. Majority (98.1%) of the participants had at least a college degree and 90.1% were employed. Overall prevalence of IPV ranged from 7.2% to 13.5%. Using the lockdown as the landmark, higher prevalence was found before than during the lockdown across physical, emotional, financial, and sexual forms of IPV. Emotional form had the highest prevalence both before and during the lockdown with 11.4% and 3.8% respectively. Furthermore, 22.6% of participants reported that the lockdown affected their mental health. Hopelessness, feelings of failure, being irritable, and constantly under strain were psychological symptoms significantly associated with IPV amid the lockdown. Decreased prevalence of IPV were found in the early phase of the pandemic, suggesting that couples can experience less partner violence during periods of confinement. Our study supports existing evidence that forms of IPV have negative mental health consequences on abused partners.

Every health care system requires an adequate health care workforce, service delivery, financial support, and information technology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, global health systems were ill prepared to address the rising prevalence of mental health problems, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), thereby increasing treatment gaps. To close these gaps globally, task shifting and telepsychiatry should be made available and maximized, particularly in LMICs. Task shifting to nonspecialist health workers to improve essential mental health coverage and encourage efficient use of the available resources and technology has become the most viable strategy.

Objectives: The global crisis of COVID-19 and its consequential strict public health measures placed around the world have impacted mental health. New scales and tools have been developed to measure these mental health effects. This narrative review assesses the psychometric properties of these scales and tools and methodological aspects of their development., Methods: PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar were searched for articles published from 15 May 2020 to 15 August 2020. This search used three groups of terms ("tool" OR "scale" AND "mental" OR "psychological"; AND "COVID-19" OR "coronavirus"). The identified scales were further evaluated for their psychometric properties and methodological aspects of their development., Results: Though the studies developing these scales ( n = 12) have demonstrated their robust psychometric properties, some methodological concerns are noteworthy. Most of the scales were validated using internet-based surveys, and detailed descriptions of the mode of administration, sampling process, response rates, and augmentation strategies were missing., Conclusions: The heterogeneous and inadequate reporting of methods adopted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the identified scales can limit their utility in clinical and research settings. We suggest developing guidelines and checklists to improve the design and testing, and result in reporting of online-administered scales to assess the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: There have been case reports of renal dysfunction with lithium toxicity among severely ill COVID-19 patients. Lithium levels may be affected by comorbid conditions and the presence of infective disease states like the SARS-CoV-2 which clearly adds systemic health burden. This study aimed to review the effect SARS-CoV-2 has on serum Li levels and the possible mechanism underlying it. Methods: Retrospective data from all clinical service encounters within the University of Michigan health system between September 2019 and September 2023 were reviewed. The study cohort included 98 patients with an average age of 45 years (62% female) who were diagnosed with any subtype of bipolar disorder, actively taking Li, and infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the study timeframe. Results: There was no overarching effect of a SARS-CoV-2 infection on Li chemistry in the overall sample. Higher serum Li levels were not significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection nor total comorbidity index. However, higher Li levels were observed in males while infected with SARS-CoV-2 when compared with no infection. eGFR remained unassociated with serum Li level. Receiving COVID vaccination was associated with lower serum Li levels (Coeff. = − 0.88, p = 0.048). Conclusions: Patients with a diagnosis of BD, treated with Li, and infected with SARS-CoV-2 were not likely to present with elevated Li levels unless they are male or unvaccinated. Elevated serum Li level was not associated with significant renal dysfunction in this cohort. The case reports of severe renal complications and Li toxicity may be among cases of greater overall clinical severity of COVID-19. These findings are reassuring that Li may be used in the context of a COVID-19 illness but emphasize the ongoing need for clinical vigilance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol and Tobacco Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our findings concur with the suggestions made by other authors that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, tobacco and alcohol use patterns have been influenced by societal and cultural processes, as well as by local alcohol control policies ([40], [41]). (2020) 32: 85-9. 10.20882/adicciones.154632347962 4 Kim, JU, Majid, A, Judge, R, Crook, P, Nathwani, R, Selvapatt, N, Effect of COVID-19 lockdown on alcohol consumption in patients with pre-existing alcohol use disorder. COVID-19, pandemic, public health, alcohol, tobacco, alcohol policy, tobacco control. [Extracted from the article]

Research on how stigma had hindered the control of the above-mentioned infectious disease outbreaks might also shed some light on the potential impact of stigma in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Preventing the dissemination of stigma-related attitudes and behaviors may help decrease the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, as stigma may lead to underreporting of symptoms and decrease the use of health facilities. [Extracted from the article]

Background: The rapid spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has forced most countries to take drastic public health measures, including the closure of most mental health outpatient services and some inpatient units. This has suddenly created the need to adapt and expand telepsychiatry care across the world. However, not all health care services might be ready to cope with this public health demand. The present study was set to create a practical and clinically useful protocol for telemental health care to be applied in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A panel of psychiatrists from 15 different countries [covering all World Health Organization (WHO) regions] was convened. The panel used a combination of reactive Delphi technique and consensus development conference strategies to develop a protocol for the provision of telemental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The proposed protocol describes a semi-structured initial assessment and a series of potential interventions matching mild, moderate, or high-intensity needs of target populations. Conclusions: Telemedicine has become a pivotal tool in the task of ensuring the continuous provision of mental health care for the population, and the outlined protocol can assist with this task. The strength of this protocol lies in its practicality, clinical usefulness, and wide transferability, resulting from the diversity of the consensus group that developed it. Developed by psychiatrists from around the globe, the proposed protocol may prove helpful for many clinical and cultural contexts, assisting mental health care providers worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mental health (MH) problems are difficult to address during a pandemic and may have devastating consequences without any preventative nor palliative strategy. • An appropriate conceptual framework can provide the opportunity to address the MH problems during COVID-19 and potential future pandemics. • Sixteen early career psychiatrists across the world developed a preliminary conceptual framework (CF) which may help to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of MH interventions during the ongoing pandemic. • This CF comprises a model of an "emotional epidemic curve" and a Mental Health Preparedness and Action Framework. The emergence of mental health (MH) problems during a pandemic is extremely common, though difficult to address due to the complexities of pandemics and the scarcity of evidence about the epidemiology of pandemic-related MH problems and the potential interventions to tackle them. Little attention has been devoted so far to this topic from policymakers, stakeholders and researchers, resulting in a lack of replicable, scalable and applicable frameworks to help plan, develop and deliver MH care during pandemics. As a response, we have attempted to develop a conceptual framework (CF) that could guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of MH interventions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This CF was developed by early career psychiatrists from 16 countries that cover all the WHO regions. Their opinions were elicited via a semi-structured questionnaire. They were asked to provide their views about the current MH situation in their countries and to elaborate on existing 'myths' and misinformation. They were also asked to name the resources available and to propose solutions and approaches to provide accessible and affordable care. The CF was prepared based on the extant literature and the views discussed in this group; it illustrates the epidemiology of MH problems, preparedness plans, stage-specific plans or innovative solutions, opportunities to integrate those plans and possible outcomes at policy level. This CF can serve as a technical guide for future research regarding pandemics. It can be used to monitor trends and to optimize efforts, and to develop evidence based MH interventions. Still, further research focusing on the individual components of this framework is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]