The Impact of Gender and Age Differences and Infectious Disease Symptoms on Psychological Distress in Quarantined Asymptomatic or Mildly Ill COVID-19 Patients in Japan

Abstract

Quarantine imposed due to COVID-19 infection can exacerbate psychological distress, and it is important for a public mental health agency to identify factors that are predictive of high psychological distress in such situation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether gender, age, and the presence or absence of infectious disease symptoms affected psychological distress among asymptomatic or mildly ill COVID-19 patients who were quarantined. Participants were 436 asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic COVID-19-infected patients who were quarantined in a treatment facility between 1 May 2020 and 30 September 2021. We used Quantification Theory I analysis to investigate the effects of gender, age, and the nature of infectious disease symptoms on psychological distress. The results of the analysis showed that the contribution rate was 0.06. Among gender, age, presence of symptoms, and the nature of symptoms, age had the greatest effect on psychological distress, and being in one’s teens to thirties was considered to exacerbate psychological distress the most. According to the results, the psychological distress of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19 patients isolated was affected by gender, age, and symptomology, especially due to age differences. However, the impact of these items on psychological distress was not considered significant.