Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in France: a national assessment of at-risk populations

Benjamin Chaix, Guillaume Delamon, Arthur Guillemassé, Benoît Brouard, Jean-Emmanuel Bibault, Benjamin Chaix, Guillaume Delamon, Arthur Guillemassé, Benoît Brouard, Jean-Emmanuel Bibault

Abstract

Background: Lockdowns were implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19. Peritraumatic distress (PD) and post-traumatic stress disorder have been reported after traumatic events, but the specific effect of the pandemic is not well known.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess PD in France, a country where COVID-19 had such a dramatic impact that it required a country-wide lockdown.

Methods: We recruited patients in four groups of chatbot users followed for breast cancer, asthma, depression and migraine. We used the Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI), a validated scale to measure PD during traumatic events, and correlated PD risk with patients' characteristics in order to better identify the ones who were the most at risk.

Results: The study included 1771 participants. 91.25% (n=1616) were female with a mean age of 32.8 (13.71) years and 7.96% (n=141) were male with a mean age of 28.0 (8.14) years. In total, 38.06% (n=674) of the respondents had psychological distress (PDI ≥14). An analysis of variance showed that unemployment and depression were significantly associated with a higher PDI score. Patients using their smartphones or computers for more than 1 hour a day also had a higher PDI score (p=0.026).

Conclusion: Prevalence of PD in at-risk patients is high. These patients are also at an increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder. Specific steps should be implemented to monitor and prevent PD through dedicated mental health policies if we want to limit the public health impact of COVID-19 in time.

Trial registration number: NCT04337047.

Keywords: mental health; post-traumatic; psychological trauma; stress disorders.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: GD, AG and BB are employees of Wefight. BC and J-EB own shares of Wefight.

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study. ANOVA, analysis of variance; PDI, Peritraumatic Distress Inventory.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PDI for each group of participants. PDI, Peritraumatic Distress Inventory.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Average PDI in each of the 11 regions of France. PDI, Peritraumatic Distress Inventory.

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