RKI study reveals: No increase in depressive symptoms during the second corona wave
Created: 06/07/2022, 14:52
By: Tom Offinger
Despite the lockdown and tough measures, the mental consequences of the second corona wave are said to have been limited.
This is revealed by a study by the Robert Koch Institute.
Berlin - According to a study by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the concern about an increase in depressive symptoms in the corona pandemic was not confirmed until the beginning of 2021.
"At the population level, initial fears that depressive symptoms could increase due to the Covid 19 pandemic or the containment measures are not supported by the available results," writes a team of authors in the RKI "Journal of Health Monitoring".
Corona virus in Germany: no indication of an increase in depressive symptoms
In the first phase of the pandemic, there was even a slight decline.
The article from Wednesday (July 6th) is dedicated to several aspects of the health situation in Germany.
The study also found that fears of increased suicide rates during the pandemic could not have been confirmed.
These results apply to the general population, but there is still a need for research on changes “in specific, vulnerable population groups”.
Corona virus in Germany: study focuses on second wave
The researchers see no pandemic-related change in smoking, as it was also said.
The increase in body weight or the so-called Body Mass Index (BMI), which is calculated from weight and height, observed after the first pandemic phase, did not continue from autumn 2020.
Compared to the period before the pandemic, however, body weight has increased by 0.8 kilos.
The investigation does not look at the entire previous pandemic, but focuses on the second wave, which was accompanied by tightened measures from autumn 2020.
Among other things, there was the so-called partial lockdown.
It is a follow-up survey to a study on health in Germany that has been running for some time.
Around 26,500 people aged 15 and over were interviewed by telephone between April 2019 and January 2021.
(
to with dpa
)