Mental Disorders, Fatigue, Perceived Event Impact, and Coping in Post-Illness Patients with COVID-19 within 1 Month after Discharge: A Case-Controlled Study

Abstract

Background: Significant concerns have been raised regarding mental health among patients with COVID-19 infection. We aimed to determine the short-term risk of mental disorders, fatigue symptoms, perceived event impact, and coping style among post-illness Wuhan patients with COVID-19. Methods: This is a case-controlled study conducted in Wuhan participants between 6th April 2020 and 15th May 2020. Patients (aged 18 to 65 years) were recruited from patients with COVID-19 within 1 month after discharge and quarantine. The diagnosis of mental disorders and insomnia disorder were determined by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the Diagnostic Interview for Sleep Patterns and Disorders, respectively. Perceived event impact, coping style, and fatigue symptoms were also assessed by self-reported questionnaires. Findings: A total of 312 recovered COVID-19 patients and 312 age-sex matched controls without COVID-19 (45·2±11·5 years vs. 44·8±10·6 years, 48·1% vs. 48·1% females) were recruited. Patients had a higher current prevalence of any psychiatric disorder (20·5% vs. 9·6%, p < 0·001), depression (9·6% vs. 2·9%, p = 0.001), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, 12·8% vs. 3·8%, p < 0·001), and insomnia disorder (34·6% vs. 18·9%, p < 0·001) than controls. There were marginally insignificant differences in suicidality (6·4% vs. 3·2%, p = 0·064) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (3·5% vs. 1·3%, p = 0·07). Patients had similar passive but worse active coping strategies as well as similar levels of fatigue symptoms and perceived event impact with controls. Interpretation: Post-illness patients with COVID-19 infection have a higher risk of mental disorders, mainly insomnia disorder, depression, and PTSD and probably suicidality and OCD. Funding Statement: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81371273) and start-up fund for excellent scholar from the Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. Declaration of Interests: All authors report no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University (Ref. No.: 2020030-1). Because face-to-face contact was hindered by infection, the study was conducted through internet and telephone. All participants provided informed consent after being informed of study information.