What Is the Role of Psychological Factors in Long COVID Syndrome? Latent Class Analysis in a Sample of Patients Recovered from COVID-19

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to identify clusters of long COVID-19 symptoms using latent class analysis and investigate the psychological factors involved in the onset of this syndrome. Method: Five hundred and six subjects recovering from COVID-19 completed a series of standardized questionnaires to evaluate the personality traits, alexithymia, and post-traumatic stress. Results: Five classes were identified: Brain fog (31.82%), No symptoms (20.95%), Sensory disorders (18.77%), Breath impairment (17.59%), and Multiple disorders (10.87%). Women reported post-COVID-19 respiratory symptoms and multiple disorders to a greater extent than men. Hospitalized subjects were more likely to report persistent symptoms after COVID-19 than asymptomatic or home-treated subjects. Antagonism, hyperarousal, and difficulty identifying emotions significantly predicted post COVID-19 symptoms. Conclusions: These findings open new questions for research on long COVID-19 and how states of emotional dysregulation can alter the physiological processes of the body and contribute to the onset of organic pathologies.

Anxiety, coping style and hopelessness during COVID‐19 pandemic: An Iranian population‐based study

“…Cancer is also a serious physical illness that puts a tremendous psychological burden on a person and can be a personal crisis in a person's life. 25 The results suggested a relationship between the level of hopelessness with stress and coping style in people with cancer. In this study, people with an inconsistent and exciting coping style also experienced more hopelessness and stress.…”

“…But its psychological consequences in the general population in the west of Iran were somewhat neglected or at least not prioritized, and most of the study's psychological consequences are on recovered people who have experienced covid 25,26 . Therefore, the research literature on the general population is limited.…”

“…[21][22][23][24] But its psychological consequences in the general population in the west of Iran were somewhat neglected or at least not prioritized, and most of the study's psychological consequences are on recovered people who have experienced covid. 25,26 Therefore, the research literature on the general population is limited. The present study looked at people's anxiety, hopelessness, and coping styles during the coronavirus outbreak, three months after its outbreak, while, naturally, the severity of the crisis reduces over time, despite its persistence.…”

“…19 Five types of content validity, simultaneous, diagnostic construct and complete, have been measured for this test, which all show the high efficiency of this tool in measuring the intensity of anxiety. 16 The anxiety score was categorized as minimal anxiety levels (0-7), mild anxiety (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), moderate anxiety (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), and severe anxiety (26-63). 20…”

Aging and long COVID-19 syndrome: what’s new in 2023?

“…At the same time, not all populations have been included in current studies, for example, those who were not hospitalized, or those living in areas with limited health access, or access, but no research orientation. Nonetheless, there is concordance in that most the presence of one or more long COVID-19 symptoms is a widespread and recognizable clinical syndrome, regardless of what the mix of symptoms may be, 9 and regardless of its probable underlying pathology. However, among these varied consistently reported symptoms, it is especially noteworthy that no unique symptom or body of symptoms has yet been observed, and the link of any COVID 19 syndrome to any pre existing health indicator is generally not evident.…”