The Evolution of Depressive Disorders in Children with History of Tuberculosis (Clinical Study in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania)

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the world since the beginning of 2020 and has produced many changes in key aspects of healthcare delivery. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has been seen as the promoter of many dramatic changes, especially in the medical field, having a huge impact on health systems around the world. Both patients and healthcare professionals have been subjected to a new stress factor that has resonated strongly in everyday life. This leads to an increased risk of association of psychological disorders, especially for patients suffering from chronic diseases, as they have already had a history of psycho-vulnerability. Patients with known chronic pathologies therefore have several concerns about important issues in the future, therefore, they are associated with an increased risk of occurrence of psychological phenomena. The present research represents an observational study, with a prospective case-witness type, carried out over a period of 2 years, between 2019 and 2020. The patients included in this research are part of the databases of the Children’s Pneumology Department of “Sfântul Spiridon” Pneumoftiziology Hospital of Galati and in the TB (Tuberculosis) Clinics in Galati County, being patients diagnosed and treated in these departments. We aimed to study the association between the presence of tuberculosis and depressive disorders reported in children aged 7-18 years, during 2019 and 2020 and in addition, to expose the results of the psychological effects of the pandemic on these chronic patients. We finally hypothesized that depression, but also the symptoms associated with them, will have a significantly higher incidence among patients with tuberculosis during the Covid pandemic.