{"doi":"10.1093/ofid/ofaf482","title":"Increased Depression and Anxiety Among Men and Transgender Women Receiving Care at a Sexual Health Clinic in New York City During COVID-19","abstract":"Abstract Background Clients seeking sexual health care often need concurrent mental healthcare services, which were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from two studies conducted before and after the onset of COVID-19, we examined changes in self-reported depression and anxiety scores among clients in a sexual health clinic in New York City (NYC). Methods We enrolled 144 participants pre-COVID-19 and 319 post-COVID-19 pandemic onset. Participants completed questionnaires assessing demographics, sexual behaviors, and mental health status. Primary mental outcomes included depression (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9]) and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale [GAD-7]). We conducted descriptive analyses and used generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to estimate predictors of mental health changes. Results Cohorts were comparable by age, self-identified gender, race/ethnicity, income, HIV, and sexually transmitted infection assessment scores. Post-COVID-19 participants reported significantly higher mean PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores compared with pre-COVID-19 participants (3.6 ± 4.2 vs 5.7 ± 5.3, P < .001; 3.9 ± 4.3 vs 5.1 ± 5.0; P = .019). Post-COVID-19 participants were also more likely to be uninsured or on Medicaid (2.7% vs 20%, 18% vs 30%, P < .001), and to report intimate partner violence victimization (24% vs 45%, P = .003). Adjusted GLMM showed post-COVID-19 was associated with a 1.55 (95% CI: .07, 3.03, P < .04) mean increase in PHQ-9 scores, but not GAD-7. Conclusions Depression and anxiety scores increased after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in this NYC sexual health clinic sample. The sustained impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on depression calls for integrated, accessible mental health services within sexual health care settings.","journal":"Open Forum Infectious Diseases","year":2025,"id":572442,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8739,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":105375,"name":"Jason Zucker","orcid":"0000-0001-6987-6412","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":723279,"name":"Delivette Castor","orcid":"0000-0002-0988-9489","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":481450,"name":"Caroline Carnevale","orcid":"0000-0002-7701-3569","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":766232,"name":"Elijah LaSota","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1193536,"name":"Joshua U. Klein","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1478603,"name":"Tae Yoon Kim","orcid":"0000-0002-0906-4196","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1141216,"name":"Daniela Quigee","orcid":"0000-0003-0928-1518","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":787894,"name":"Deborah Theodore","orcid":"0000-0001-8998-113X","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":481456,"name":"Peter Gordon","orcid":"0000-0003-2095-4277","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":481454,"name":"Alwyn Cohall","orcid":"0000-0001-6727-3335","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":443750,"name":"Kathrine Meyers","orcid":"0000-0002-8573-1958","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":105379,"name":"Magdalena E. Sobieszczyk","orcid":"0000-0002-7112-3118","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":981605,"name":"Simian Huang","orcid":"0000-0001-5536-1231","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":39,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:57:23.653298Z","pmid":"40860516","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}