P362 GENDER DIFFERENCE IN PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS SYMPTOMS IN CARDIAC OUTPATIENTS AT THE TIME OF COVID–19 PANDEMIC. THE ABC STUDY ON HEART DISEASE

Abstract

IntroductionCOronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) exerts a significant impact on public health since it has reached a pandemic level in March 2020 and a high rate of negative mental health outcomes has been reported in the Italian general population.PurposeWe aimed to investigate the pandemic impact on the psychological status of, COVID–19 negative, cardiac patients and if there are any gender differences.MethodsConsecutive COVID–19 free patients who were presented to the cardiac outpatient clinic of Conegliano general hospital were divided into 2 groups according to their presentation, either before or during the COVID–19 Pandemic. The presence or absence of stress symptoms was established based on the patient’s self–assessment psycho–emotion questionnaire based on a reproduced form of Cohen’s perceived stress scale.ResultsA total of 310 patients were included in this analysis. Patients’ mean age was 65±18.5 years, males were 57% with 128 (41%) and 132 (59%) patients presented before and during the pandemic respectively. Both patients’ groups shared most of the demographic and clinical characteristics. In all patients, stress symptoms were reported in (52% VS 60%; p = 0.15) for patients who were presented before and during the pandemic, respectively. In male patients, stress symptoms were more frequent in patients who were presented during the pandemic (59%) compared to the pre–pandemic presented male patients (43%); (p = 0.03). Yet, no difference in the frequency of stress symptoms was observed in female patients. In an age–adjusted logistic regression analysis, psychological stress was significantly higher in male patients who were presented during the pandemic (Odds Ratio [OR]=2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.1–3.6; p = 0.03). Although, no significant difference was observed in female patients (OR = 0.8; 95% CI = 0.4–1.7; p = 0.63). Same results were obtained using the fully adjusted model, (OR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.0–3.5; p = 0.04) and (OR = 0.8; 95% CI = 0.4–1.7; p = 0.64), for male and female patients, respectively.ConclusionPsychological stress symptoms has been observed more frequently in male patients seen during the COVID–19 pandemic, with almost double risk compared to the pre–pandemic, independently from baseline clinical characteristics. No difference in the frequency of stress symptoms was observed in female patients.