Psychological Distress in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic can cause various anxiety, fear, and tension in society. The negative impact of the pandemic is not limited to physical health problems. It can generate serious consequences, such as anxiety, depression, and stress, especially neurological diseases. Objectives: The present study investigated depression, anxiety, and stress in patients with MS and epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials & Methods: In this study, the keywords depression, anxiety, stress, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and COVID-19 in the title and abstract of articles published in 2020 (May) and 2021 (July) in reputable international scientific databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and PsycINFO were searched. The PRISMA checklist was used to review and control the quality of articles. Results: Overall, 394 English articles were retrieved. Finally, 27 final articles were selected for comprehensive review and data extraction. The obtained results suggested that patients with MS and epilepsy experienced depression, anxiety, stress, fear, poor sleep quality, mental fatigue, and poor quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantine has limited patients’ access to medication and treatment, resulting in increased seizures and disease severity. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic reduced patients’ mental health with MS and epilepsy. The psychological consequences of the outbreak of COVID-19 might be associated with patients with MS and epilepsy for years; thus, it is necessary to adopt psychological interventions to reduce psychological distress in these patients.