Assessment of the psycho-emotional state of patients with COVID-19 undergoing outpatient and inpatient treatment

Abstract

Background. Today, 3.8% of the world’s population suffers from depression. There is no doubt that depression has an impact on a person’s physical health, and it has also been proven that this relationship is reciprocal and manifests itself through the «vicious circle» of somatized depression. Depressive disorder, acquiring the character of somatized depression, increases pathological changes in the patient’s body and immunological disorders. The disease of COVID-19 is accompanied by circulatory disturbances in the central nervous system, which can potentially lead to the development of a depressive-anxiety disorder. Purpose – study the psycho-emotional state of patients with COVID-19, of varying degrees of severity. Materials and methods. We conducted a survey of 60 patients with COVID-19 with a mild and moderately severe course of the disease, from the 10th to the 14th day of the disease, as well as healthy participants of the control group. The HADS anxiety and depression scale and the PSS-10 stress intensity scale were used to assess the severity of psychological disorders. Calculations were made using the STATISTICA module software (StatPlus 2009) based on the Office 365 program. Results. It was established that patients with a mild course of the disease had a high level of anxiety and a low level of stress pressure, which is associated with worries about the course of the disease and its consequences, but there is no «stress of waiting» for the onset of the disease. The low level of depressive disorders may be related to the absence of a significant microcirculation disturbance in the capillaries of the brain. And patients with a moderately severe course of the disease, complicated by pneumonia, on the contrary, demonstrated the highest level of assessment of depressive disorders and stress pressure, both from the high category, which, in our opinion, is related to the hyperproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and their negative impact on microcirculation. Conclusions. Thus, it was established that a more severe course of COVID-19 corresponds to a deeper level of depressive disorders, which indicates the need to monitor the psychological state of patients during inpatient treatment and timely appointment of therapy.