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Background: COVID-19 pandemic has seen a rise in psychological problems. However, little is known about the role of positivity and personality traits in facing the pandemic. Therefore, we aimed at investigating whether higher positivity was associated with a better emotional, behavioural and cognitive response to COVID-19, taking into account the role of the big five traits. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional multiple waves study with 5,002 participants representative of the Italian general population (May 2021 and March 2022). The Ten Item Personality Inventory was used for the evaluation of the big five traits, while the Positivity Scale for the assessment of positivity. Statistical analyses included linear regression models and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Results: The main predictors of Preventive behaviours of COVID-19 were Conscientiousness (β=0.100, p<0.001) and Agreeableness (β=0.117, p<0.001), while the main predictor in explaining self-efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection was Positivity (β=0.141, p<0.001). Neuroticism (β=-0.186, p<0.001) and Positivity (β=0.094, p<0.001) predicted the Affective response related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion: Positivity has a protective role in buffering the negative effects of the pandemic on people's affective response, as well as supporting stronger self-efficacy and confidence about the usefulness of the vaccine, and higher preventive behaviours, over and above personality traits. The results of the sensitivity analysis using the first two components of the big five traits Communion and Agency confirmed the results of the linear regressions of the big five traits: communion is the main predictor of Preventive behaviours of COVID-19, while self-efficacy of preventing COVID-19 infection. Discussion: Positivity has a protective role in buffering the negative effects of the pandemic on people's affective response, as well as supporting stronger self-efficacy and confidence about the usefulness of the vaccine, and higher preventive behaviours, over and above personality traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This multicenter cross-sectional study explored the responsiveness of Mental Health Services (MHS) to two years of COVID-19 emergency in Italy. Specifically, the study explored the ability of staff to: acknowledge users' capabilities and value teamwork; reinvent the service and maintain/introduce good practices; and, acknowledge the positive aspects of the pandemic experience. These aspects were investigated in relation to socio-demographic and professional variables. Professionals from 17 MHS of 15 Italian Regions completed an online questionnaire on the MHS transformation during COVID-19. Data were collected at the end of the national health emergency (March 1-April 30, 2022). Most of the 1077 participants said they: paid more attention to users' physical health; revised treatment plans; mediated between user needs and safe work procedures; revalued the importance of gestures and habits; discovered unexpected personal resources in users; and, found positive aspects in the COVID-19 experience. The multivariate analyses showed significant differences in staff opinions related to gender, workplace, professional role, and geographic area of the MHS, covarying with staff work experience. Compared to male staff, female staff perceived MHS as more flexible and capable to maintain best practices, and female staff acknowledged more capabilities to the users. Compared to central and northern Italy staff, southern Italy staff gave more values to teamwork, perceived MHS as more capable to maintain best practices and acknowledged higher positive transformations. These findings may be useful for planning community-oriented MHS in the post-pandemic period, taking into account both the experience gained by staff and the MHS process of adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the mental health and well-being (WB) of citizens. This cross-sectional study included 4 waves of data collection aimed at identifying profiles of individuals with different levels of WB. The study included a representative stratified sample of 10,013 respondents in Italy. The WHO 5-item well-being scale (WHO-5) was used for the assessment of WB. Different supervised machine learning approaches (multinomial logistic regression, partial least-square discriminant analysis—PLS-DA—, classification tree—CT—) were applied to identify individual characteristics with different WB scores, first in waves 1–2 and, subsequently, in waves 3 and 4. Forty-one percent of participants reported "Good WB", 30% "Poor WB", and 28% "Depression". Findings carried out using multinomial logistic regression show that Resilience was the most important variable able for discriminating the WB across all waves. Through the PLS-DA, Increased Unhealthy Behaviours proved to be the more important feature in the first two waves, while Financial Situation gained most relevance in the last two. COVID-19 Perceived Risk was relevant, but less than the other variables, across all waves. Interestingly, using the CT we were able to establish a cut-off for Resilience (equal to 4.5) that discriminated good WB with a probability of 65% in wave 4. Concluding, we found that COVID-19 had negative implications for WB. Governments should support evidence-based strategies considering factors that influence WB (i.e., Resilience, Perceived Risk, Healthy Behaviours, and Financial Situation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition of young people from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) is a complex process. Transition rates are heterogeneously reported, with wide definitions and ranges. Few data are available regarding predictive factors of a successful transition. We explored factors associated with transition in a cohort of former inpatients of a Children and Adolescents Intensive Treatment Ward (CAITW). Socio-demographic and clinical features of patients previously admitted to CAITW were matched to AMHS data for those patients having reached age requirements. We built multiple logistic regression models to identify factors associated with transfer to AMHS (either inpatient or outpatient) and with successful retention in treatment (RIT) at six (short RIT), 12 (intermediate RIT) and 24 months after transfer (long RIT). From a cohort of 322 inpatients, 126 reached the age threshold for transfer to AMHS in the study period. The transfer rate was 50%. Two years after transition-age boundary, CAMHS-AMHS continuity of care was found in 40% and disengagement in 6% of cases. Longer and multiple hospitalizations, atypical antipsychotics prescription and a diagnosis of psychotic disorders were factors associated with short and intermediate RIT. A positive psychiatric family history was negatively associated with successful short and intermediate RIT. Diagnosis of psychosis and learning-supported school attendance were associated with long RIT. Young adults with a history of psychiatric inpatient admission as children or adolescents have a relatively high rate of transition to AMHS. A diagnosis of psychosis seems to be the strongest predictor for transition in these patients. Further research should focus on patients' schooling needs and on children of parents with mental health problems to enhance family and educational system engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic and related social distancing measures have brought about dramatic changes in people's lives. In particular, health workers have been forced to change their activities both for the different needs of patients and for preventive measures against the spread of the virus. This study is aimed at comparing the urgent psychiatric consultations (UPC) performed at the outpatient Mental Health Center (MHC) of Modena during the coronavirus outbreak period, from 1 March to 31 August 2020, with the same period in 2019. We retrospectively collected in a database the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who required UPC in the MHC during the 6-month observation periods in both 2019 and 2020. Data were statistically analyzed. We analyzed 656 urgent psychiatric consultations in 2019 and 811 in 2020, requested by 425 patients in 2019 and 488 in 2020, respectively. In the pandemic period, we observed an increase in the total and daily number of UPC which were more frequently required by patients in care at local outpatient services in comparison with the previous period. During 2020, an increased number of UPC was carried out remotely and the outcome was more frequently represented by discharge at home, avoiding hospitalization as much as possible. In the course of the coronavirus pandemic, MHC had to face an increased demand for clinical activity especially from the most clinically and socially vulnerable patients, who more frequently required UPC in outpatient psychiatric services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: People with mental disorders show mortality rates up to 22.2 times higher than that of the general population. In spite of progressive increase in life expectancy observed in the general population, the mortality gap of people suffering from mental health problems has gradually widened. The aim of this paper was to study mortality rates in people suffering from mental illness in a cohort of people (16,981 subjects) in the local mental health register of the province of Modena during the decade 2006-2015.Methods: Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) were calculated to compare the mortality of people with mental disorders to the mortality of people living in the province of Modena and the excess of mortality was studied in relation to the following variables: gender, age group, diagnosis and causes of death. In addition, Poisson regression analysis was performed to study the association between patient characteristics and mortality.Results: An overall excess mortality of 80% was found in subjects under the care of mental health services as compared to the reference population (SMR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.7-1.9). Subjects in the 15-44 year group presented the highest SMR (9.2, 95% CI 6.9-11.4). The most prevalent cause of death was cancer (28.1% of deaths). At the Poisson regression, the diagnosis "Substance abuse and dependence" showed the highest relative risk (RR) (4.00). Moreover, being male, single, unemployed and with a lower qualification was associated with higher RRs.Conclusions: Our study confirms that subjects with mental illness have higher SMR. Noteworthy, the overall higher risk of mortality was observed in the younger age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine clinical and demographic factors associated with continuity of care from child-adolescent (CAMHS) to adult mental health services (AMHS), we undertook a record-linkage study to the Adult Mental Health Information System including all those 16 years old and over who were listed between 2010 and 2013 in the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Information System in Emilia-Romagna, an Italian region of nearly 4.5 million residents. From a cohort of 8239 adolescents attending CAMHS (population at risk about 144,000), 821 (19.4 %) moved to AMHS, excluding cases with specific developmental disorders, whose conditions were not managed by adult psychiatrists, and those with mental retardation who attended usually social services. Young people referred for treatment to AMHS were more likely to receive a discharge diagnosis of schizophrenia and related disorders (Odds Ratio [OR] 3.92; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 2.17-7.08), personality disorders (OR 2.69; 95 % CI 1.89-3.83), and pervasive developmental disorders (OR 2.13; 95 % CI 1.51-2.99). Further factors predicting transfer to AMHS were not living with parents, inpatient psychiatric admission, and being on medication in the previous 24 months. These findings suggest that a relatively small number of adolescents moved to AMHS and are likely to reflect the configuration of local mental health services and alternative care available, mainly for those with less-severe mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant proportion of primary care patients are affected by a depressive disorder and about half of these patients are undetected and undertreated. The adjusted prevalence for ICD-10 depression in 2093 patients was 18.7%, while the conspicuous morbidity was 10.7%. The ability of PCPs to detect a depression increased proportionally with HDRS scores. The coverage, i.e. the proportion of patients who would benefit from an antidepressant (AD) and who actually received such drugs, was 20.9%. The drugs most frequently prescribed were SSRI (36%), followed by TCA (21%) and by other AD. Most SSRI were prescribed at therapeutic dosage, while two-thirds of TCA were at sub-therapeutic dosage. About 37% of patients started a non-pharmacological treatment. The severity of depression at the first consultation predicted the persistence of a depressive state in the longer term. The ability of Italian PCPs to detect depression is satisfactory when the patient's depressive state is moderate or severe. The appropriateness of antidepressant drug treatment still needs to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diarrhea is a common symptom that many HIV patients experience either as a consequence of HIV infection or of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). A multicenter, prospective observational study was conducted in 11 AIDS clinics in Italy to determine the effect of diarrhea on health-related quality of life among patients receiving HAART. The study enrolled 100 consecutive HIV positive patients who had diarrhea while on HAART. For each enrolled patient a control patient with matching disease stage who did not have diarrhea was identified using existing data from another prospective observational study conducted in 34 AIDS clinics (including the 11 in current study). Quality of life was measured by MOS-HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV). Paired t-test and multiple regression analysis were used to compare the quality of life among patients with and without diarrhea. Mean patient age was 40 +/- 7 years; 69% were male. Mean CD4 cell count was 342 +/- 239 cells/mm3; 59% had AIDS. Of the cases, 49 patients had severe diarrhea (> 5 bowel movements or > 3 watery per day) and 46 patients had moderate diarrhea (3-5 bowel movements). Compared to matched control patients, cases experiencing diarrhea while on HAART had significantly lower MOS-HIV scores in all domains. The significant adverse effect of diarrhea on quality of life should be considered when choosing the appropriate antiretroviral drugs regimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]