The intrinsic association between somatic symptoms and psychiatric symptoms among Chinese COVID-19 inpatients: A network analysis

Abstract

Background COVID-19 stands as the most impactful global public health event in the 21st century, affecting both physical and mental well-being. However, the connection between various somatic and psychiatric symptoms remains unclear. The purpose of the survey is to investigate the relationship between somatic and psychiatric symptoms. Methods The study involved 534 Chinese hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Self-evaluation of somatic symptoms in COVID-19 inpatients, patient health questionnaire-9, insomnia severity index, and the PTSD checklist-civilian version were used to quantify the levels of somatic, depression, insomnia, and post-traumatic stress disorder, respectively. The network analysis method by the R program was used to judge the bridge symptoms and the network differences by gender. Results In this survey, the depression-somatic symptom network revealed seven robust edges, including “Anosmia”-“Ageusia”, “Headache”-“Muscle pain”, “Stuffy nose”-“Cough”, “Cough”-“Anhedonia”, “Cough” - “Sleep”, “Cough”-“Fatigue”, and “Muscle pain”-“Fatigue”. The insomnia-somatic symptom network highlighted five robust edges, including “Sleep onset”-“Maintenance”, “Noticeability”-“Distress”, “Ageusia”-“Anosmia”, “Headache”-“Muscle pain”, and “Stuffy nose”-“Cough”. The PTSD-somatic symptom network featured five prominent edges, including “Ageusia”-“Anosmia”, “Headache”-“Muscle pain”, “Reminders avoidance”-“Thoughts avoidance”, “Hypervigilance”-“Startle”, and “Stuffy nose”-“Cough”. Simultaneously, “Cough”、“Anhedonia”、 “Noticeability”、“Libido loss” and “Sleep” as bridge factors linked somatic symptoms with psychiatric symptoms. No gender differences in the somatic- psychiatric symptoms network. Conclusions This study provides new perspectives for assessing and intervening in COVID-19 and other multisystem diseases.