Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 6, 2022; 10(22): 7832-7843
Published online Aug 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i22.7832
Predictors of long-term anxiety and depression in discharged COVID-19 patients: A follow-up study
Rabia Kevser Boyraz, Ebru Şahan, Muhammed Emin Boylu, İsmet Kırpınar
Rabia Kevser Boyraz, Department of Psychiatry, Basaksehir Cam and Sakura Research and Training Hospital, Istanbul 34480, Turkey
Ebru Şahan, Department of Psychiatry, Marmara University, İstanbul 34854, Turkey
Muhammed Emin Boylu, İsmet Kırpınar, Department of Psychiatry, Bezmialem Vakıf University, İstanbul 34093, Turkey
Author contributions: Boyraz RK contributed to literature search, figure preparation, study design, data analysis and interpretation, and draft writing; Boylu ME contributed to data collection and interpretation, and statistical analysis; Şahan E contributed to literature search, figure preparation, study design, data analysis and interpretation, and revision and supervision of the manuscript; and Kırpınar İ contributed to supervision of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles and was approved by the Ethical Committee of the BezmialemVakıf University (2021/414).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Additional SPSS data could be shared when requested.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rabia Kevser Boyraz, MD, Doctor, Postdoc, Department of Psychiatry, Basaksehir Cam and Sakura Research and Training Hospital, Istanbul 34480, Turkey. rabiasancili@yahoo.com
Received: January 25, 2022
Peer-review started: January 25, 2022
First decision: April 18, 2022
Revised: April 21, 2022
Accepted: July 6, 2022
Article in press: July 6, 2022
Published online: August 6, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Patients who were hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) faced an extremely stressful experience that challenged their mental health and the long-term effects are not definitely known yet.

AIM

To identify both the course of mental symptoms (anxiety and depressive symptoms) and the related risk factors of recovered patients at the 20-22 mo follow-up.

METHODS

One hundred and seventy-two patients were enrolled. The patients were evaluated with a telepsychiatry interview and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Sociodemographic and clinical features were analyzed by regression analysis.

RESULTS

The mean HADS-Anxiety (HADS-A) score was 9.08 ± 4.90, and the mean HADS-Depression (HADS-D) score was 8.55 ± 4.39. The mean HADS-A (P = 0.484) and HADS-D (P = 0.011) scores were increased compared to scores during hospitalization. Being over 50 years old, having lower financial status, and being vaccinated were associated with symptoms of depression (adjusted R2 = 0.168) while being over 50 years old, female sex, being vaccinated, and dyspnea were associated with higher anxiety (adjusted R2 = 0.245).

CONCLUSION

To prevent the deterioration of mental health, psychiatrists should play an active role in identifying emerging mental problems as soon as possible, more vulnerable groups should be characterized, and psychological support should be sustained after discharge.

Keywords: Coronavirus, Anxiety disorders, Depressive disorders, Tele medicine, Psychiatry

Core Tip: Coronavirus disease 2019 causes various psychiatric outcomes like other coronaviruses. This study aimed to observe the anxiety and depressive symptoms and related factors of recovered patients at the 20-22 mo follow-up. The goal of this study was to identify groups at high risk of anxiety and to raise awareness about providing psychiatric support to these groups.