Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly the delivery of healthcare all around the world. In part, an abnormal and unexplained high non-COVID-related cardiovascular mortality rate was reported during the outbreak. We assess the correlation between anxiety level and decision to seek medical care (DSMC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recruited patients with cardiovascular complaints admitted to the emergency department in a single institute in Israel between February and September 2020. Anxiety level was measured using available questionnaires. DSMC was assessed with a newly designed questionnaire (DM-19). Two-hundreds seventy patients were included in the study. The mean age was 52.6 ± 14.9 (females represent 36.2%). 23.6% of the patients had at least moderate cardiovascular risk. High anxiety levels were (HAL) reported in nearly half of the patients (57.1% and 49.8% for General Anxiety Disorder Assessment [GAD-7] and Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI], respectively). It was more prevalent in old, married, and unemployed patients (significant p-value for all in both questionnaires). Age was an independent factor (χ2 = 6.33, p < 0.001, odds-ratio: 4.8) and had a positive correlation on anxiety level (r = 0.81, p < 0.001 and r = 0.62, p < 0.001, for GAD-7 and BAI, respectively). The DM-19 revealed a strong and positive correlation of seeking medical care with anxiety level (R2 linear = 0.44, r = 0.70, p < 0.001 and R2 linear = 0.30, r = 0.58, p < 0.001 for GAD-7 and BAI, respectively) and results in deferring medical care for several days than patient with low anxiety level (p = 0.02). We observed an abnormal prevalence of a high level of anxiety among non-COVID patients with cardiovascular complaints, which affected the patient's likelihood to seek medical care and resulted in an unreasonable postponement of medical treatment. Our results may explain cardiovascular mortality trends during the outbreak and should be considered in health crisis management. Future studies will involve multi-institutional efforts to address reproducibility of our findings across geographic regions in the state of the global impact. Additionally, it is imperative to understand the effects of the coronavirus vaccine on patient consideration to seek medical care.
Highlights
The unpredictable nature of the 2019–2020 Coronavirus pandemic has been shown to substantially increase the reported mental health disorders [1–7].The social distancing, isolation, lack of familial support, inactivity, temporary or indefinite employment termination, loss of income, and personal autonomy have led to detrimental effects on both physical and mental status in both previously healthy people and those with preexisting conditions [8,9].Anxiety and depression were the most prevalent psychological disorders reported during the COVID-19 outbreak [10]
Our study shows a positive correlation between anxiety level and the decision to seek medical care of nonCOVID patients, which eventually results in deferring serious medical care
Half of patients admitted to the emergency department during the COVID-19 outbreak display high anxiety level
Summary
The unpredictable nature of the 2019–2020 Coronavirus pandemic has been shown to substantially increase the reported mental health disorders [1–7].The social distancing, isolation, lack of familial support, inactivity, temporary or indefinite employment termination, loss of income, and personal autonomy have led to detrimental effects on both physical and mental status in both previously healthy people and those with preexisting conditions [8,9].Anxiety and depression were the most prevalent psychological disorders reported during the COVID-19 outbreak [10]. We assess the correlation between anxiety level and decision to seek medical care (DSMC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. High anxiety levels were (HAL) reported in nearly half of the patients (57.1% and 49.8% for General Anxiety Disorder Assessment [GAD-7] and Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI], respectively). It was more prevalent in old, married, and unemployed patients (significant p-value for all in both questionnaires). Conclusions: We observed an abnormal prevalence of a high level of anxiety among non-COVID patients with cardiovascular complaints, which affected the patient’s likelihood to seek medical care and resulted in an unreasonable postponement of medical treatment. It is imperative to understand the effects of the coronavirus vaccine on patient consideration to seek medical care
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