Posttraumatic Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in COVID-19 Survivors

This study aims to examine the rates of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after hospital discharge among COVID-19 survivors and to determine the associated risk factors.

Adult COVID-19 survivors discharged from hospitals between March 2020 and March 2021 were asked to complete a questionnaire at 4 weeks after discharge. The Chinese version of the 22-item Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R) was used to measure symptoms of PTSD. The 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to assess symptoms of major depressive disorder. The 7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) was used to measure symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder. The rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD among discharged patients were determined, as were associations between psychosocial factors and outcome measures and predictors for moderate-tosevere symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

96 men and 103 women aged 18 to 81 years returned the completed questionnaire. 12.1% to 20.1% of them reported symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, or depression. Higher symptom severity was associated with higher perceived life threat, lower emotional support, lower disease severity upon admission, and longer hospital stay. Women had more PTSD symptoms than men, particularly when knowing someone under quarantine.

COVID-19 survivors with higher perceived life threat, lower emotional support, lower disease severity upon admission, and longer hospital stay were associated with higher severity of symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Timely intervention should provide to at-risk survivors.