Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Quality of Life of COVID-19 Survivors at 6-Month Follow-Up: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most common psychiatric sequelae among novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of PTSD symptoms, PTSD-related factors, and its relationship with quality of life at long-term follow-up in hospitalized COVID-19 survivors.Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken to evaluate the health consequences of hospitalized COVID-19 survivors. All participants were interviewed face-to-face through a series of questionnaires: a researcher-developed symptom questionnaire, the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist–Civilian Version, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item, and the 36-item Short Form.Results: A total of 574 participants were enrolled with an average age of 57 years. The median follow-up time post-discharge was 193.9 days (SD = 15.32). Among the participants, 77.9% of survivors presented with at least one symptom, where fatigue or muscle weakness (47.9%) was reported the most frequently, followed by chest distress (29.4%) and sleep difficulty (29.4%). The prevalence of PTSD was 11.15% [95% confidence interval (CI): 8.56, 13.73] with a cut-off score of 44. Factors such as respiratory symptoms [odds ratio (OR): 3.53; 95% CI: 1.68–7.42], anxiety (OR: 14.64; 95% CI: 7.09–30.21), and sleep difficulty (OR: 2.17; 95% CI: 1.14–4.16) were positively related to PTSD. Those COVID-19 survivors with potential PTSD had significantly lower quality of life than those without (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Our study illustrated that a significant number of COVID-19 survivors were suffering from physical or mental distress to varying degrees at 6 months post-discharge. People with PTSD were more likely to experience persistent respiratory symptoms and sleep difficulty, as well as anxiety and a decreased quality of life. Such survivors require greater attention to their mental health, particularly the PTSD symptoms at the early phase, which may play an important role in the recovery of both the physical and psychological health of COVID-19 survivors.

Long-Term Consequences of COVID-19 at 6 Months and Above: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Among the 193 studies under full-text review, 153 studies were excluded. Eventually, 40 studies were included in this meta-analysis based on the inclusion criteria [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ]. The literature retrieval flow chart is shown in Figure 1 .…”

Behavioral problems of pediatric patients recovered from COVID-19 in Wuhan, China

“…Our analysis reveals that pediatric patients, despite apparent clinical recovery at discharge, had obvious behavioral problems when evaluated approximately two months later. Extensive research has examined the mental health burden in adults discharged from hospital with COVID-19 in China ( Chen et al, 2020 ; Chen, Huang, et al, 2021 ; Chen, Ju, et al, 2021 ; Huang, Huang, et al, 2021 ; Huang, Xu, et al, 2021 ; Huang, Zhuang, et al, 2021 ; Ju et al, 2021 ; Liang et al, 2020 ; Liu, Bao, et al, 2020 ; Liu, Baumeister, et al, 2020 ; Putri et al, 2021 ; Qu et al, 2021 ; Tu et al, 2021 ; Wu, Chen, et al, 2020 ; Wu, Hu, et al, 2020 ; Xiong, Xu, et al, 2021 ; Xiong, Zhong, et al, 2021 ; Yuan et al, 2020 ), Italy ( Mattioli et al, 2021 ; Tomasoni et al, 2021 ), Australia ( Darley et al, 2021 ; Rass et al, 2021 ), Netherlands ( de Graaf et al, 2021 ; Vlake et al, 2021 ), the UK ( Halpin et al, 2021 ; Zavala et al, 2021 ), France ( Garrigues et al, 2020 ; Horn et al, 2021 ; Morin et al, 2021 ), Germany ( Augustin et al, 2021 ; Daher et al, 2020 ), Iran ( Khademi et al, 2021 ; Mirfazeli et al, 2022 ), Egypt ( Kamal et al, 2021 ), Brazil ( Damiano et al, 2022 ; Todt et al, 2021 ), the USA ( Daugherty et al, 2021 ; Graham et al, 2021 ; Jovanoski et al, 2021 ; Martillo et al, 2021 ), and Korea ( Chang & Park, 2020 ) (see details in e Table B), reporting substantial psychological distress in the first few months after infection. However, there is limited information available on pediatric patients.…”

Meta-analysis of post-traumatic stress disorder and COVID-19 in patients discharged

“…In addition, many patients experience difficulty sleeping, and long-term lack of sleep can also lead to mental and psychological disorders. People with anxiety disorders were 15 times more likely to develop PTSD than people without anxiety disorders 7 . However, further research is needed to confirm the correlation.…”