Depression, anxiety, and stress among COVID-19 patients in South Sinai, Egypt: prevalence and associated predictors

Abstract

Infectious diseases trigger fear and anxiety among patients leading to disturbance in psychological health of patients. Psychological symptoms were found during SARS-COV-1 epidemic which raise the curiosity about their presence with SARS-COV-2 infection. The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence and severity of psychiatric disorders (depression, anxiety, and stress) among COVID-19 patients and their associated significant predictors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 382 patients infected with COVID-19 in South Sinai governorate, Egypt, during the period June 2021 through January 2022. Patients with positive PCR test for COVID-19 were included if no more than 6 months have passed after being isolated in the hospital or at home. The patients were being contacted after being cured from COVID-19. The Arabic version of the Depression Anxiety Stress was used to assess the psychological status of patients. Multivariate linear regression analysis was done to detect the predictors of psychiatric symptoms among patients. A total of 382 participants with mean age of 41.5 ± 15.0 years old, of whom 72.5% were males were included in the study. 91.6% of participants had all the three studied psychological disorders; depression, anxiety and stress with most of participants had either severe or extremely severe conditions (13.9 and 75.7 for anxiety, 22.8 and 46.3% for depression, 38.5 and % 19.6 for stress, respectively). Healthcare workers had higher prevalence rates of depression, anxiety and stress. In bivariate analysis, educational level, HCWs and visiting healthcare facility were significantly affecting DASS scores. In linear regression analysis, hospital admission was the main predictor of the three psychological disorders. In Conclusion, majority of patients affected with COVID-19 suffered from symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress within six months after being infected. Hospital admission was found to be the main predictor of the presence of psychiatric disorders with prolonged recovery time from COVID-19 infection. More attention should be paid to COVID-19 patient’s mental health as psychological care and presence of psychiatric in the isolation hospitals should be considered.