Neurological and psychiatric diseases
Project goals
Mental health is essential for quality of life, performance and social participation. Mental health impairments are widespread and range from mild restrictions on mental well-being to severe mental disorders.
The aim of the expert group is to better understand the development of mental illness and to develop prevention strategies.
First results
Childhood traumas: Researchers were able to show that traumatic experiences in childhood were associated with a higher risk of physical and mental illness in adulthood.
Rheumatism and osteoarthritis: The study showed that people with inflammatory rheumatic diseases suffered more frequently from depression or anxiety disorders than people with osteoarthritis. However, there was no difference between the two groups in cognitive function tests.
Music-making and health: Scientists have investigated the connection between the musical activity of amateur musicians and their mental and physical health. The analysis of the surveys of NAKO participants showed that the self-reported mental health of singers in particular has deteriorated during the pandemic.
Loneliness and the pandemic: 32 per cent of NAKO participants considered themselves lonely during the first lockdown in Germany – 26 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women. Older people were less affected than young people. Overall, 80 per cent of participants stated that they sometimes or often felt that they lacked the company of others.
Publications
Rodriguez FS, Röhr S, Dragano N, et al. Low income, being without employment, and living alone: how they are associated with cognitive functioning—Results from the German national cohort (NAKO). Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. 2024:1-16. http://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2024.2438825
Klinger-König J, Erhardt A, Streit F, et al. Childhood trauma and somatic and mental illness in adulthood—findings of the NAKO health study. Deutsches Ärzteblatt international. 2024. http://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2023.0225
Becher H, Krist L, Menzel J, et al. Music-Making and Depression and Anxiety Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic—Results From the NAKO Cohort Study in Germany. Int J Public Health. 2024;69:1606993. http://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2024.1606993
Callhoff J, Berger K, Albrecht K, Strangfeld A. Depression, anxiety and cognitive function in persons with inflammatory rheumatic diseases: cross-sectional results from the German National Cohort (NAKO). RMD Open. 2024;10(4):e004808. http://doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2024-004808
Stein J, Pabst A, Berger K, et al. Mental health of individuals with pre-existing mental illnesses at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: results of the German National Cohort (NAKO). Front Public Health. 2024;12:1451631. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1451631
Streit F, Völker MP, Klinger-König J, et al. The interplay of family history of depression and early trauma: associations with lifetime and current depression in the German national cohort (NAKO). Front Epidemiol. 2023;3:1099235. http://doi.org/10.3389/fepid.2023.1099235
Streit F, Zillich L, Frank J, et al. Lifetime and current depression in the German National Cohort (NAKO). The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry. 2023;24(10):865-880. http://doi.org/10.1080/15622975.2021.2014152
Kleineidam L, Stark M, Riedel-Heller SG, et al. The assessment of cognitive function in the German National Cohort (NAKO) – Associations of demographics and psychiatric symptoms with cognitive test performance. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry. 2023;24(10):909-923. http://doi.org/10.1080/15622975.2021.2011408
Schmiedek F, Kroehne U, Goldhammer F, et al. General cognitive ability assessment in the German National Cohort (NAKO) – The block-adaptive number series task. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry. 2023;24(10):924-935. http://doi.org/10.1080/15622975.2021.2011407
Erhardt A, Gelbrich G, Klinger-König J, et al. Generalised anxiety and panic symptoms in the German National Cohort (NAKO). The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry. 2023;24(10):881-896. http://doi.org/10.1080/15622975.2021.2011409
Berger, K., Riedel-Heller, S., Pabst, A. et al. Einsamkeit während der ersten Welle der SARS-CoV-2-Pandemie – Ergebnisse der NAKO-Gesundheitsstudie. Bundesgesundheitsbl 64, 1157–1164 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-021-03393-y
Speakers
Prof. Dr. Klaus Berger
Dr. Fabian Streit (Deputy Spokesperson)