First results from a multimodal psychosomatic post-COVID treatment approach - a prospective longitudinal study

Clinical experiences using a psychosomatic-oriented multimodal treatment approach in patients with post-COVID are promising. We established a half-day multimodal treatment program for post-COVID patients at the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine at General Hospital Nuremberg, Paracelsus Medical University, Germany.

This observational study between January 2022 and March 2023 comprised baseline documentation of Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQD), ICD-10 Symptom Rating (ISR), Fatigue Scale (FS) and Health Status Questionnaire (SF-12) at admission and discharge of 65 patients suffering from post-COVID. Multimodal psychosomatic treatment was scheduled for 3-4 weeks.

At admission, PHQ and FS showed a high level of somatic symptom burden (PHQ-15: M = 16.0, SD = 5.6) and fatigue symptoms (FS: M = 27.1, SD = 4.4). Depressive (PHQ-9: M = 14.0, SD = 5.3) and anxiety symptoms (GAD-7: M = 9.6, SD = 5.6) were moderately and mildly pronounced, respectively. Compared to patients from our standard clinical settings post-COVID patients had a comparably high or even higher mental symptom burden (e.g. PHQ-15: p < .001, d = 0.79; PHQ-9: p = .009, d = 0.39). Compared to admission, symptomatology of post-COVID patients at discharge was improved (e.g. PHQ-15: p = .004, d = 0.26; FS: p = .009, d = 0.32).

Despite the short duration of treatment, the patients showed a significant reduction in symptoms between admission and discharge. Further data including a control group and extending the duration of treatment will show whether the changes in symptoms are of the multimodal psychosomatic treatment.