Anxiety and Depression in Family Members of Critically Ill Covid-19 Inpatients: Brief Psychological Interventions via Telephone, an Exploratory Study

Abstract

Nancy Patricia Caballero-Suárez,1 Vania Barrientos-Casarrubias,1 Ester Gutiérrez-Velilla,1 Lilian Margarita González Avilés,2 Luis Daniel Pérez-López,1,2 Claudia Alvarado-De la Barrera,1 Santiago Ávila-Ríos,1 Janella Mora-Gallegos3 1Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIENI), Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias “Ismael Cosío Villegas” (INER), Mexico City, Mexico; 2Programa de Maestría en Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico; 3Programa de Atención a Pacientes y Familiares (PAPyF), Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias “Ismael Cosío Villegas” (INER), Mexico City, MexicoCorrespondence: Nancy Patricia Caballero-Suárez, Departamento de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIENI), Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias (INER), Calzada de Tlalpan 4502, Sección XVI, Tlalpan, Mexico City, 14080, Mexico, Tel [phone] ext. 169, Email [email protected]: This study aimed to assess the level of anxiety and depression in relatives of critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and to perform an exploratory pilot study on the implementation of telephone psychological interventions to reduce the initial levels of anxiety and depression in this population.Patients and Methods: Family members of COVID-19 inpatients at ICU answered GAD-7, PHQ-9 and questions on socio-demographic data. A brief psychological intervention was applied via telephone based on the needs of the participants (with adequate adaptation, with symptoms of anxiety, depression, or both). After intervention, participants completed the Patient Global Impression of Change Scale.Results: A total of 1307 relatives were included (66.5% female), 34% and 29% had anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. These symptoms were associated with female gender, unemployment, and being the parent or partner of the patient. After intervention, 57.9% reported felt better, 31.3% a little better and 6.6% much better; and with emotional regulation techniques and psychoeducation, higher percentages of feeling better or much better were reported.Conclusion: Brief interventions to reduce the psychological impact of inpatient family members could be effective but will need to be explored further in future studies.Keywords: pandemic, relatives, mental health, brief psychotherapy

Keywords

• pandemic
• relatives
• mental health
• brief psychotherapy