Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on outpatient psychiatric population well-being and symptomology utilizing COVID-19 Events Checklist (CEC) and Measurement Based Care

Abstract Background This study examines the impact of SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., coronavirus, COVID, COVID-19) using data from a measurement-based care (MBC) system utilized in an outpatient psychiatric clinic providing telemedicine care. A novel Patient Rated Outcome Measure (PROM), the COVID-19 Events Checklist (CEC) was administered in a hospital system based ambulatory clinic beginning April 2020 to track COVID-19-19’s impact on patients’ mental, emotional, and health-related behaviors during the pandemic. The study (1) provides descriptive CEC data, and (2) compares CEC results with PROMs evaluating anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; GAD-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire; PHQ-9), and psychological distress (Brief Adjustment Scale-6; BASE-6). Methods This retrospective observational study included patient intake data collected from April 2020 to March 2021. Patient (N = 842) reports on the CEC’s five domain questions were aggregated to calculate average reports of COVID-19 related impacts at intake over the initial 12 months of the pandemic. Trends in COVID-19 related impacts were examined, and non-aggregated scores on the PHQ-9, GAD-7, and BASE-6 were compared to primary dichotomous (yes/no) CEC survey questions via Wilcoxon rand sum testing. Results Results capture the relationship between COVID-19 exposure, COVID-19- related sequelae and behaviors, and psychological symptom severity. Specifically, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests indicate that social determinants of health (SDOH), negative mental health impacts, and positive coping skill use were significantly associated with psychological symptomatology including overall psychological functioning via the BASE-6, anxiety via the GAD-7, and depressive symptoms via the PHQ-9. Results regarding SDOH were as follows: BASE-6 (w = 44,005, p