Changes in People with Schizophrenia during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Integrative Review

Purpose: This integrative review aims to identify changes in people with schizophrenia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An integrative literature review method of Whittemore and Knafl was applied to integrate the studies. The literature search was conducted in six electronic databases using English and Korean search terms. Three researchers independently reviewed the extracted papers and rated their quality based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of fifteen relevant studies were included. Results: The selected articles were all international papers, and most of them were quantitative studies. The changes observed in people with schizophrenia were summarized as follows: (1) changes in health outcomes: psychosocial (increased levels of depression, stress, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and psychotic-like experience) and physical (reduction in food intake, weight loss, changes in immune-related clinical values, etc.); (2) changes in treatment and health management: increased hospitalization, decreased ICU hospitalization, and a decrease in outpatient visits and prescription rate. Conclusion: This study confirmed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with schizophrenia. It is necessary to develop mental health policies and appropriate nursing interventions to help people in preparing for possible future crises.