About the project CoV2Soul.rs
|
There are no epidemiological studies of psychiatric disorders in Serbia, which is necessary for planning the organization of services and forming programs for the protection of mental health. (Government of the Republic of Serbia, 2019). |
The interdisciplinary project CoV2Soul.rs brought together experts in the field of public health, psychology and psychiatry in order to apply state-of-the art instruments for the assessment of psychiatric disorders and for the detection of distress in the adult population of Serbia during the Covid-19 pandemic.
|
N E W The CoV2Soul.rs research used multi-stage probabilistic sampling and a representative sample of the adult population of Serbia has been collected. |
Prevalence of mental disorders in Europe is between 10% and 20%.
The first epidemiological study on the prevalence of mental disorders among adults in Serbia (Cov2Soul.rs) was conducted in 2021.
More than 50 specially educated professionals conducted the clinical face-to-face interviews with the participants (n-1203).
Cov2Soul.rs showed that one in six (15.2%) adults in Serbia had symptoms that would require the clinicians’ attention in the moment the study was conducted- the most frequently due to alcohol abuse (7.6%), depressive disorder (2.2%) and generalized anxiety disorder (1.9%).
The alcohol use disorder was five times more frequent among males, especially at younger age (18-30 years). Depressive disorder was two times more frequent among females and unemployed, and anxiety was two times more frequent among divorced participants. Residency in larger cities was associated with the higher distress.
Total of 11.1% of the population had one disorder and 4.1% of the participants had more than one disorder.
Previous psychiatric disorders were present in 14.6% of the participants, while only one third of them seeked professional help.
More than 10% of adults use the anti-anxiety medications, for months or for years, without looking for the professional help.
What other information will the professional and general public be able to get from CoV2Soul.rs?
- About Covid stress syndrome, the frequency of distress and changes in the intensity of anxiety and depression during the pandemic
- The frequency of stressors associated with the risk of infection, but also all other stressors during a pandemic
- On personality characteristics in the seven-factor personality model
- About Covid-19 pandemic conspiracy theories and their prevalence
- On the frequency of experiences of loneliness in the population
- On the quality of life in the second year of the pandemic
- On the personal impression of the respondents regarding the impact of the pandemic on the main aspects of life
Everyone who deals with mental health benefits from this research, primarily decision makers whose responsibility is to plan and implement mental health care.
The results of CoV2Soul.rs are available for inclusion in international meta-analyzes of the prevalence of psychiatric disorders, covid stress, quality of life during the pandemic and other important aspects of mental and public health.
This research is supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, Grant No. #7528289, COVID-19-CoV2Soul.RS
The research is registered at the Clinicaltrials.gov, registration number NCT 04896983.
