Correspondence on “Psychological impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in children with neurodevelopmental disorders”

PATHUM SOOKAROMDEE1*, VIROJ WIWANITKIT2

1Private Academic Consultant, Bangkok Thailand; 2Honorary professor, Dr DY Patil University, Pune, India.

Dear Editor,

we would like to share ideas on “Psychological impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families: evaluation before and during covid-19 outbreak among an Italian sampl”1. De Giacomo et al. concluded that «this study highlights the increase in parental stress and a more difficult …psychological support for caregivers of children with NDDs»1. Effect of lockdown on NDD children is widely reported. In a recent report from India, a similar problem is observed2. In the present report, several clinical tools are used for data collection. However, there are also other interesting data, such as those revealed in the publication by Goswami et al.2, that might be further accessed. The effect of lockdown might be different at different period of disease outbreak and local policy on intensity of control might also affect the impact on NDD children. Finally, whether there is a change of impact when the situation remains for a very long period is an interesting question for further researching.

Conflict of interests: the authors have no conflict of interests to declare. *E.B. and F.C. share the last co-authorship.

References

1. De Giacomo A, Pedaci C, Palmieri R, Simone M, Costabile A, Craig F. Psychological impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families: evaluation before and during covid-19 outbreak among an Italian sample. Riv Psichiatr 2021; 56: 205-10.

2. Goswami JN, Sondhi V, Simalti AK, Bamal M, Roy S. Effects of lockdown during corona pandemic on children with neurodevelopmental disorders. A questionnaire-based survey. Turk J Ped 2021; 63: 648-59.