Browsing by Author "Trapencieris, Marcis"

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    Effects of social isolation on mental health during Covid-19 in the context of ageing
    (2021) Koroļeva, Ilze; Sniķere, Sigita; Aleksandrovs, Aleksandrs; Reine, Ieva; Trapencieris, Marcis; Ivanovs, Andrejs; Lubkina, Velta; Apsite-Berina, Elina; Znotina, Daina; Vindaca, Olga; Rīga Stradiņš University
    The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant changes to the usual rhythm of life. Reduced opportunities to meet with family members and friends in a situation of heightened stress leads to increased feelings of loneliness and social isolation, as well as increases the risk of mental health problems. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of social contacts on the changes in psychoemotional states in the elderly population in Latvia during the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis draws upon quantitative data collected by the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe within Wave 8 in Latvia (n=1207). Measurements of the frequency of social contacts were used to construct social isolation indexes. Changes of psychoemotional state, characterized by sleeping problems, nervousness, frustration during the pandemic were included as dependent variables in multinomial logistic regression models that were run to identify the effect of social isolation on psychoemotional health in the context of other factors: age, gender, perceived health status, affluence and feelings of loneliness. The results show that in the group of those aged 50+, close to one-fifth of respondents experienced the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on their mental health. The link between reduced social contacts and changes in psychoemotional states proved to be statistically significant. In the group with the highest level of social isolation, irregularities in psychoemotional health are three times higher compared to other groups.
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    Validity of the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 to screen for depression in nationwide primary care population in Latvia
    (2018-08-02) Rancans, Elmars; Trapencieris, Marcis; Ivanovs, Rolands; Vrublevska, Jelena; Department of Psychiatry and Narcology
    Background: Depression is highly underdiagnosed in primary care settings in Latvia. Screening for depression in primary care is potentially an efficient way to find undetected case s and improve diagnostics. We aimed to validate both a nine-item and two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9 and PHQ-2) in the Latvian and Russian languages in primary care settings using a representative sample in Latvia. Materials and methods: The study was carried out within the framework of the National Research Program BIOMEDICINE to assess the prevalence of mental disorders at 24 primary care facilities. During a 1-week period, all consecutive adult patients were invited to complete the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2. Criterion validity was assessed against the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Results: There were 1467 patients who completed the PHQ-9 and the MINI. Overall, the PHQ-9 items showed good internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.81 for Latvian version and 0.79 for Russian version of the PHQ-9). A cut-off score of 8 or greater was established for the PHQ-9 (sensitivity 0.75 and 0.79, specificity 0.84 and 0.80 for Latvian and Russian languages, respectively). For the PHQ-2, a score of 2 or higher (sensitivity 0.79 and 0.79, specificity 0.65 and 0.67 for Latvian and Russian languages) detected more cases of depression than a score of 3 or higher. Conclusions: We suggest GPs ask patients to respond to the first 2 questions of the PHQ-9. If their score is positive, the patients should then complete the PHQ-9.