Frontiers in Psychiatry (Jun 2021)

Mid-term Psychiatric Outcomes of Patients Recovered From COVID-19 From an Italian Cohort of Hospitalized Patients

  • Carla Gramaglia,
  • Carla Gramaglia,
  • Eleonora Gambaro,
  • Eleonora Gambaro,
  • Mattia Bellan,
  • Mattia Bellan,
  • Piero Emilio Balbo,
  • Alessio Baricich,
  • Alessio Baricich,
  • Pier Paolo Sainaghi,
  • Pier Paolo Sainaghi,
  • Mario Pirisi,
  • Mario Pirisi,
  • Giulia Baldon,
  • Sofia Battistini,
  • Valeria Binda,
  • Alessandro Feggi,
  • Martina Gai,
  • Eleonora Gattoni,
  • Amalia Jona,
  • Luca Lorenzini,
  • Debora Marangon,
  • Maria Martelli,
  • Pierluigi Prosperini,
  • Patrizia Zeppegno,
  • Patrizia Zeppegno,
  • The NO-MORE COVID Group,
  • Gian Carlo Avanzi,
  • Marco Battaglia,
  • Emanuela Cadario,
  • Vincenzo Cantaluppi,
  • Luigi Mario Castello,
  • Elisa Clivati,
  • Martina Costanzo,
  • Alessandro Croce,
  • Carla De Benedittis,
  • Simona De Vecchi,
  • Francesco Gavelli,
  • Leonardo Grisafi,
  • Eyal Hayden,
  • Marco Invernizzi,
  • Paolo Marzullo,
  • Erica Matino,
  • Antonio Panero,
  • Elena Parachini,
  • Filippo Patrucco,
  • Giuseppe Patti,
  • Alice Pirovano,
  • Cristina Rigamonti,
  • Daniele Soddu,
  • Erika Zecca

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.667385
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Background: Although the usual primary clinical manifestation of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is respiratory, several non-respiratory symptoms have been described, including neuropsychiatric ones. The aim of this study was to investigate the mid-term mental health outcomes in patients recovered from COVID-19, 3–4 months after discharge from the University Hospital Maggiore della Carità, Novara, Italy. Furthermore, we investigated the possible association of the mid-term mental health consequences of the COVID-19 infection with patients' clinical current status, persistent physical impairment and severity of acute phase of the disease.Methods: Prospective study involving 238 individuals recovered from COVID-19. In the context of a multi-disciplinary approach, patients' assessment included both a clinical interview performed by an experienced psychiatrist, trained in the use of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview to assess the presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and self-administered questionnaires: Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), Impact of Event Scale (IES).Results: At the psychiatric assessment 32.9 and 29.5% of participants showed anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Changes in appetite and sleep patterns emerged for 15.6 and 31.2% of patients. According to the self-administered questionnaires, 7.1% of participants had moderate-severe anxiety levels (BAI), while 10.5% had mild to severe depression (BDI-II). Twenty-six (11%) participants were referred to further psychiatric consultation. Psychiatric symptoms showed no correlation with acute COVID-19 severity; in our sample patients with depressive symptoms at the clinical interview, as well as those with mild to severe levels of depression according to BDI-II scores, had lower forced expiratory volume in the 1st second (FEV1) values than those without and greater odds for persistent, poor tolerance for physical efforts.Conclusions: As could be expected, an approach including both a psychiatric interview and the use of self-administered questionnaires is likely to capture the psychiatric outcome of patients recovered from COVID-19 better than questionnaires alone. Anxiety and depressive symptoms at follow-up had no correlation with the severity of COVID acute manifestations, but rather with ongoing and persistent physical symptoms. Further studies and longer follow-up duration will allow a better understanding of the complex relationship between residual physical symptoms, quality of life and psychological health.

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