TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19-related anxiety trajectories in children, young people and adults with rheumatic diseases
AU - Shoop-Worrall, Stephanie J.W.
AU - Verstappen, Suzanne M.M.
AU - Costello, Wendy
AU - Angevare, Saskya P.
AU - Uziel, Yosef
AU - Wouters, Carine
AU - Wulffraat, Nico
AU - Beesley, Richard
N1 - Funding Information:
No specific funding was received from any bodies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors to carry out the work described in this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s).
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Objectives: Uncertainty regarding the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), its complications and the safety of immunosuppressive therapies may drive anxiety among adults and parents of children and young people (CYP) with rheumatic diseases. This study explored trajectories of COVID-related anxiety in adults and parents of CYP with rheumatic diseases. Methods: Adults and parents of CYP participating in the international COVID-19 European Patient Registry were included in the current study if they had enrolled in the 4 weeks following 24 March 2020. COVID-related anxiety scores (0-10) were collected weekly for up to 28 weeks. Group-based trajectory models explored COVID-related anxiety clusters in adult and parent populations, with optimal models chosen based on model fit, parsimony and clinical plausibility. Demographic, clinical and COVID-19 mitigation behaviours were compared between identified clusters using univariable statistics. Results: In 498 parents of CYP and 2640 adults, four common trajectory groups of COVID-related anxiety were identified in each cohort: persistent extreme anxiety (32% and 17%), persistent high anxiety (43% and 41%), improving high anxiety (25% and 32%) and improving moderate anxiety (11% and 10%), respectively. Few characteristics distinguished the clusters in the parent cohort. Higher and more persistent anxiety clusters in the adult cohort were associated with higher levels of respiratory comorbidities, use of immunosuppressive therapies, older age and greater self-isolation. Conclusions: COVID-19-related anxiety in the rheumatic disease community was high and persistent during the COVID-19 pandemic, with four common patterns identified. In the adult cohort, higher COVID-related anxiety was related to perceived risk factors for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.
AB - Objectives: Uncertainty regarding the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), its complications and the safety of immunosuppressive therapies may drive anxiety among adults and parents of children and young people (CYP) with rheumatic diseases. This study explored trajectories of COVID-related anxiety in adults and parents of CYP with rheumatic diseases. Methods: Adults and parents of CYP participating in the international COVID-19 European Patient Registry were included in the current study if they had enrolled in the 4 weeks following 24 March 2020. COVID-related anxiety scores (0-10) were collected weekly for up to 28 weeks. Group-based trajectory models explored COVID-related anxiety clusters in adult and parent populations, with optimal models chosen based on model fit, parsimony and clinical plausibility. Demographic, clinical and COVID-19 mitigation behaviours were compared between identified clusters using univariable statistics. Results: In 498 parents of CYP and 2640 adults, four common trajectory groups of COVID-related anxiety were identified in each cohort: persistent extreme anxiety (32% and 17%), persistent high anxiety (43% and 41%), improving high anxiety (25% and 32%) and improving moderate anxiety (11% and 10%), respectively. Few characteristics distinguished the clusters in the parent cohort. Higher and more persistent anxiety clusters in the adult cohort were associated with higher levels of respiratory comorbidities, use of immunosuppressive therapies, older age and greater self-isolation. Conclusions: COVID-19-related anxiety in the rheumatic disease community was high and persistent during the COVID-19 pandemic, with four common patterns identified. In the adult cohort, higher COVID-related anxiety was related to perceived risk factors for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.
KW - anxiety
KW - COVID-19
KW - rheumatology
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85160604041
U2 - 10.1093/rap/rkad007
DO - 10.1093/rap/rkad007
M3 - Article
C2 - 36742372
AN - SCOPUS:85160604041
SN - 2514-1775
VL - 7
JO - Rheumatology advances in practice
JF - Rheumatology advances in practice
IS - 1
M1 - rkad007
ER -