EFFECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID ON MENTAL HEALTH IN HOSPITALIZED STABLE COVID-19 PATIENTS: A PRE-POST RESEARCH DESIGN.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is known to affect mental health of sufferers. Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a mental health service for individuals in crisis, which can be provided to anyone regardless of age and it does not require mental health expertise. Its effect on mental health issues of COVID-19 patients has not been studied effectively. The present study aimed to assess the psychological impact and effect of PFA on mental health in stable COVID-19 hospitalized patients. This was an interventional study with a pre-post research design in a tertiary government teaching hospital in eastern India. 93 stable patients who were admitted in a period of a month with COVID-19 were included in the study after obtaining appropriate consent. They were provided PFA (both structured individual and group sessions) by trained nurses. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-21) was used to assess depression, anxiety, and stress in the patients before and after intervention. The mean age of study population which comprised of 68.8% males was 56.2 ± 13.7 years. Median scores for depression, anxiety and stress were 4, 6 and 6 on admission and 0, 2 and 2 respectively before discharge after intervention (P<0.001). 13%, 25.9% and 8.6% were the combined percentages scores of patients with varying levels of depression, anxiety and stress at the time of admission which were reduced to 4.3% (P=0.046), 5.4% (P=0.001), 2.2% (P=0.03) respectively before discharge after intervention within one week. PFA may be a cost-effective intervention in stable COVID-19 admitted patients who had depression, anxiety, and stress.