Dodich Alessandra, Papagno Costanza, Turella Luca, Meli Claudia, Zappini Francesca, Narduzzi Pamela, Gober Alessandro, Pierotti Enrica, Falla Marika
Center for Mind/Brain Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
Psychology Department, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 30;12:571991. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.571991. eCollection 2021.
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms, among which deficits in social cognition might affect ~20% of patients. This study aims to evaluate the role of social cognitive abilities in the perceived impact of COVID-19 emergency, and the effects of lockdown measures on patients' social network and caregivers' burden. Fourteen PD patients performed a neuropsychological battery including sociocognitive tasks before the introduction of COVID-19 restrictive measures (i.e., social distancing and isolation). A structured interview through an online platform was performed in the last 2 weeks of the first lockdown phase to assess patients' health status, perception of COVID-19 emergency, changes in caregivers' burden, and patients' social isolation. Non-parametric analyses were performed to evaluate the association between social skills and patients' COVID-19 perception, as well as the effects of restrictive measures. At baseline evaluation, half of the PD patients showed sociocognitive dysfunctions, mainly on mentalizing abilities. Patients with impaired social cognition skills showed a significantly lower concern on the possible effects of COVID-19 on their health. Caregiver burden and patients' social network remained stable during the lockdown. These preliminary results underline that PD sociocognitive dysfunctions might affect patients' abilities to estimate the effects of COVID-19 infection. However, the lack of a significant increase in caregivers' burden and social isolation suggests, in our sample, a good coping to COVID-19 emergency. Since COVID-19 pandemic can have direct and indirect severe consequences in patients with PD, the development of educational and preventive programs is recommended.
帕金森病（PD）的特征是运动和非运动症状，其中约20%的患者可能存在社会认知缺陷。本研究旨在评估社会认知能力在COVID-19疫情影响感知中的作用，以及封锁措施对患者社交网络和照顾者负担的影响。14名帕金森病患者在COVID-19限制措施（即社交距离和隔离）实施前进行了包括社会认知任务在内的神经心理测试。在首次封锁阶段的最后两周，通过在线平台进行了结构化访谈，以评估患者的健康状况、对COVID-19疫情的感知、照顾者负担的变化以及患者的社会隔离情况。采用非参数分析来评估社交技能与患者对COVID-19的感知之间的关联，以及限制措施的影响。在基线评估时，一半的帕金森病患者表现出社会认知功能障碍，主要体现在心理理论能力方面。社会认知技能受损的患者对COVID-19可能对其健康产生的影响的担忧明显较低。在封锁期间，照顾者负担和患者的社交网络保持稳定。这些初步结果强调，帕金森病的社会认知功能障碍可能会影响患者评估COVID-19感染影响的能力。然而，在我们的样本中，照顾者负担和社会隔离没有显著增加，这表明对COVID-19疫情有良好的应对能力。由于COVID-19大流行可能对帕金森病患者产生直接和间接的严重后果，建议制定教育和预防计划。
