Psychological distress among survivors of moderate-to-critical COVID-19 illness: A multicentric prospective cross-sectional study

Imran, Javaria; Nasa, Prashant; Alexander, Leny; Upadhyay, Surjya; Alanduru, Veena

PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is predicted to have long-term sequelae on the physical and mental health of survivors. We aim to calculate the prevalence of psychological distress in moderate-to-critical survivors of COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The patients discharged from the hospital after moderate-to-critical COVID-19 were interviewed using e-mail at 30 and 60 days for anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and PTSD Check List-5 questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: In 103 patients (96% were immigrant workers), the prevalence rate of clinically significant anxiety, depression, and PTSD was 21.4%, 12.7%, and 8.7% at day 30 and 9.5%, 7.1%, and 4.7% at day 60, respectively. There was significantly higher anxiety in patients of Indian nationality and depression with preexisting chronic illness. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence rate of clinically significant psychological distress among COVID-19 survivors, and we propose a formal psychiatric assessment and long-term follow-up.