Iran Medical Council Journal of Iranian Medical Council 2645-338X 4 4 2021 10 01 The Condition of COVID-19 and Schizophrenia in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Situation with Escalating Concerns 335 337 143978 http://dx.doi.org/10.18502/jimc.v4i4.8481 EN Rahim Badrfam Department of Psychiatry, Roozbeh Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 0000-0001-9808-1678 Atefeh Zandifar Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran Department of Psychiatry, Imam Hossein Hospital, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran 0000-0002-4725-1734 Journal Article 2021 07 13 Since schizophrenia was called the “disease of civilization” at the dawn of the 20th century, there has been controversy over its incidence and prevalence in low- and middle-income countries (1). Schizophrenia, as a highly disabling and under-recognized psychiatric disorder, puts a heavy economic burden on different societies. Inadequate health care services are often provided to patients with the disease and their families (2). Some schizophrenia researchers point to the need for reexamination in results for better prognosis of the disease in low- and middle-income countries due to methodological limitations in related studies, lack of evidence for the positive effects of some socio-cultural factors on the prognosis of the disease, and rapid socioeconomic changes in these countries in recent years that impaired the traditional family care system for people with schizophrenia (3).<br />With the global spread of COVID-19, serious concerns have been raised about the possible increase in the prevalence of the disease in the coming decades for a variety of reasons (4). This point highlights the need to pay more attention to this severe mental health disorder and the need to increase vigilance for the symptoms of psychosis among people with COVID-19 (5). https://www.jimc.ir/article_143978_fa02aaa81793c7d19cbc06fbf4c98ca9.pdf