CLINICAL FEATURES OF ANXIETY DISORDER IN POST-COVID-19 SYNDROME AND FINDING OF ITS PREDICTORS

Abstract

the article summarizes and describes clinical features of anxiety disorders in post-COVID-19 syn-drome. Mental and neurological disorders occupy a leading place in the structure of post-COVID syndrome. Recent
 studies indicate an increase in the incidence of anxiety disorders in individuals with COVID-19. However, no clini-cal or laboratory features of the post-COVID anxiety disorders have been identified. Therefore, our study aimed to
 describe the clinical features of anxiety disorders in the post-COVID period and to develop a mathematical prog-nostic model to identify potential predictors of post-COVID anxiety disorder. We conducted a case-control clinical
 study, which included 145 males and females, which were divided into 2 groups, namely: group 1 - patients whobecame ill with COVID-19 during the last 6 months and group 2 - persons who were not ill with COVID-19 duringthe last 6 months. The clinical interview included the registration of symptoms of the debut and the time of the debutrelative to the episode of COVID-19. The Beck anxiety inventory was used for the assessment of the overall level ofanxiety. The State-trait anxiety inventory was used to assess state and trait anxiety. Statistical analysis of the datawas performed using the program EZR Statistics 1.54. Anxiety disorders during the first 6 months after COVID-19develop more often than those who have not had the disease in the last six months. Patients who had COVID-19in the last 5-24 weeks have an increased risk of anxiety disorders during this period and therefore require closemedical supervision and sufficient awareness of the likely symptoms. People with a post-COVID anxiety disorderreported the presence of autonomic symptoms, including excessive sweating and tachycardia, a feeling of inneremptiness, as well as circadian rhythm disorders in the form of difficulty falling asleep and waking up at the desiredtime. It should be noted that the overall frequency of detection of anxiety disorders in the post-COVID period isincreasing. It has been established that the risk of developing post-COVID disorder decreases with knowledge ofthe fact of contact with an infected person before the COVID onset and increases with a heightened level of prior
 personal anxiety. Circadian rhythm disorders, in particular sleep phase shift and abnormal fatigue, may be predic-tors of post-COVID anxiety disorder.