Risk factors associated with mental illness in hospital discharged patients infected with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can have a profound impact on the mental health of patients who survived the illness. However, little is known about the prevalence rate of mental health disorders among hospital discharged COVID-19 patients and its associated factors. A cross-sectional survey of hospital discharged patients was conducted April 11-22, 2020 in Wuhan, China (where the pandemic began). 675 participants completed the survey, including 90 (13.3%) medical staff (physicians and nurses who had been ill). We used Fisher's exact test and multivariable logistic regression methods to explore the risk factors associated with mental health problems (anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms associated with COVID-19 hospitalization). Adverse mental health effects of COVID-19 are evident after discharge from the hospital, with sleep difficulties highlighted as a central issue. As we found that perceived discrimination was a central predictor of mental illness, preventing and addressing social stigma associated with COVID-19 may be crucial for improving mental health for recovered patients.

The social crisis aftermath: tourist well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak

“…This is detrimental to their self-esteem associated with the social state (Rubin & Hewstone, 1998), further leading to a negative appraisal of their social psychological in-group and thus creating tension and worry (Cassidy et al, 2004). Empirical evidence has shown that social stigma and discrimination due to COVID-19 will exacerbate the negative emotions and evoke severe anxiety (Liu et al, 2020;Ma & Miller, 2020). Therefore, the first hypothesis was proposed: Anxiety and well-being.…”

Focus on the depressive symptoms in COVID-19 patients: Perspective based on a rapid meta-analysis

“…Actually, a “tsunami of psychiatric illness” is being predicted and actions such as calling for a special research topic and accelerating the manuscript review process have been taken to deal with the lacking of useful information in the mental health crisis ( Tandon, 2020 ). Though some studies assessed the prevalence of depressive symptoms and potential influencing factors in hospitalized ( Ma et al, 2020 ) and discharged ( Liu et al, 2020 ) COVID-19 patients, these results might be misleading due to limited sample size. Thus, in this letter, we aimed to provide a rapid meta-analysis of the prevalence of depressive symptoms in COVID-19 patients and potential influencing factors based on published studies which might be the reference for mental health intervention during the epidemic.…”

“…Eight cross-sectional studies were included after selection involving 2206 individuals with 1040 cases with depressive symptoms ( Guo et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ; Liguori et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2020 ; Ma et al, 2020 ; Nie et al, 2020 ; Yuan et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ), among which two studies considered cured patients discharged from the hospital ( Liu et al, 2020 ; Yuan et al, 2020 ). One study ( Liguori et al, 2020 ) came from Italy while the others were all from China.…”

“…One study ( Liguori et al, 2020 ) came from Italy while the others were all from China. As for diagnostic criteria of depressive symptoms, four studies used Patient Health Questionnaire (9-item version, PHQ-9) or its Chinese version ( Liu et al, 2020 ; Guo et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ; Ma et al, 2020 ), two studies used Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) ( Nie et al, 2020 ; Yuan et al, 2020 ), one study used the Chinese version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) ( Zhang et al, 2020 ), and one study didn’t report specific scale ( Liguori et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Our results highlight an urgent need for psychological support and counseling for COVID-19 patients in the pandemic of the world although most of the research originated from China associated with significant heterogeneity. In fact, the severity of COVID-19 ( Guo et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ) and diagnosis criteria of depressive symptoms based on different scales ( Ma et al, 2020 ; Nie et al, 2020 ) and cutoffs ( Ma et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2020 ) in included studies might contribute to a certain heterogeneity. Furthermore, data on potential influencing factors was far from robust which should be clarified more in the further so as to better prevent and intervene depressive symptoms in COVID-19 patients.…”