(2022) Science and education, 2, 74-80. Odessa.

Vitaly Goncharov,
Acting General Director

Dmitro Bondarenko,
Deputy General Director

Sergey Dementev,
Deputy General Director,
State Institution “Odesa Regional Center of Control and Prevention of Diseases of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”,
Assistant of the Department of General and Clinical Epidemiology and Biosafety,
Odesa National Medical University

Olena Varetska,
Head of the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance (Observation) and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases

Yuliia Maksymenko,
Doctor of the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance (Observation)
and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases,
State Institution “Odesa Regional Center of Control and Prevention of Diseases of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”,
Ivana and Yury Lip str., 5a
Assistant of the Department of General and Clinical Epidemiology and Biosafety,
Odesa National Medical University,
Valikhovsky lane, 2, Odesa, Ukraine

STUDYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH

According to the latest UNICEF data, at least one in seven children in the world has been affected by quarantines, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated great concern about the mental health of an entire generation of children and young people, as well as their parents and caregivers. The aim of the study was to study the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of mental health of the child population. The study used statistical reporting data from the Municipal Institution “Odesa Regional Information and Analytical Center for Medical Statistics” of the Odesa Regional Council for the last 12 years (2009–2020). The analysis of statistical data was carried out taking into account the administrative distribution of the territory of the Odesa region before the 2020 decentralization reform (6 cities and 26 districts). Processing and analysis of materials was carried out using epidemiological sanitary-statistical methods. Thus, based on the study, we can say that the problem of mental and behavioral disorders among the population of the region exists and is gradually growing. In rural areas of the region, mental and behavioral disorders are more common among the adult population, and, conversely, less among children. In addition, the study showed that the rate of increase in mental health deterioration among urban children is significantly higher than among rural children. The COVID-19 pandemic has not caused a significant acceleration in the rate of increase in the prevalence of mental and behavioral disorders among the population of the region compared to previous years. While among the child population of the region, on the contrary, during the pandemic, there was an improvement in mental health. For individual administrative territories of the region, the situation is ambiguous. This issue requires further in-depth study.

pandemic, COVID-19, children, mental and behavioral disorders.

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