Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32645586›Full record

ArticleGeneral hospital psychiatry

Physical health among people with serious mental illness in the face of COVID-19: Concerns and mitigation strategies.

Osnat C Melamed, Margaret K Hahn, Sri Mahavir Agarwal, Valerie H Taylor, Benoit H Mulsant, Peter Selby

Open access · greenAbstract readEditorial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in General hospital psychiatry. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Primary Care Physician Adherence to Telepsychiatry Recommendations: Intermediate Outcomes from a Randomized Clinical Trial.Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association · 2022
    Trial
  4. Article
  5. Strengthening the Delivery of Physical Healthcare for Adults Living With Serious Mental Illness - A Qualitative Description of Patient and Family Member Perspectives.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025
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  14. The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the well-being of clients of a specialist personality disorder service.Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Osnat C MelamedCentre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: Osnat.Melamed@camh.ca.
Margaret K HahnCentre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sri Mahavir AgarwalCentre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Valerie H TaylorDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Benoit H MulsantCentre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Peter SelbyCentre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
University of Toronto · CACentre for Addiction and Mental Health · CAPublic Health Ontario · CAUniversity of Calgary · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

COVID-19 can worsen the physical health of individuals with serious mental illness, a vulnerable group already facing physical health disparities. COVID-19 is further reducing access to physical health care due to shutdown of services deemed "non-urgent" and overcrowding of emergency services. Management of chronic diseases, highly prevalent in this group, is undermined due to exacerbation of psychiatric disorders, reduction in availability of social support, and worsening of negative social determinants of health. In this commentary, we discuss the challenges experienced by this group and offer mitigation strategies to reduce: (1) inequalities in access to physical health care; and (2) disruptions to the management of chronic physical conditions in the face of COVID-19. Recommendations include coordinated efforts by health authorities, primary and mental health care organizations, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. These efforts should ensure equitable access to physical health care and implementation of innovative programs to protect the physical health of people with serious mental illness during and following the pandemic.

Indexed as

Coronavirus InfectionsHealth Services AccessibilityPandemicsPneumonia, ViralChronic DiseaseComorbidityCOVID-19HumansMental DisordersBipolar disorderChronic medical conditionsCOVID-19Health servicesPhysical healthPrimary careQuality of health careSchizophreniaSerious mental illness

Identifiers

PMID32645586
PMCPMC7831754
OpenAlexW3039684887

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.