Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2020 Nov;24(22):11964-11970. doi: 10.26355/eurrev_202011_23858.
The effects of COVID-19 seem to extend beyond the physical pain and is showing psychiatric implications as well. Moreover, psychopathological implications seem to last also after patients' discharge. Our goal is to investigate the psychological impact and psychopathological outcome of patients affected by COVID-19.
We have engaged 34 patients with COVID-19 conditions [eight of them were healthcare workers patients (HCW)] hospitalized at "Policlinico Gemelli Foundation" of Rome, Italy. All patients were evaluated through the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R) first, during their hospitalization (baseline), and then, after 4 months from hospital discharge (follow-up), through phone interviews.
At baseline, 82% of patients revealed from mild to severe psychological impact of COVID-19, according to the IES-R. At follow-up, the mean IES-R total score was significantly decreased (p<0.001) even if almost half (46.6%) of our cohort still showed it. HCW patients showed a significantly higher score than other patients at IES-R scale, both at baseline (p=0.005) and at follow-up (p<0.001). Moreover, at 4 months from discharge, they showed a significantly higher percentage of moderate and severe distress (p=0.015). In addition to this, at follow-up, our cohort of patients showed an increase of anxiety symptoms, even if not significant compared to baseline (46.7% vs. 35.3% respectively; p=1.000), and HCW patients suffered more sleep disorders (p=0.019) and anxiety symptoms (p=0.019) compared to other patients.
We indicate the importance of assessing psychopathology of COVID-19 survivors, monitoring their changes over time, and providing psychological support to improve their psychological well-being.
COVID-19 的影响似乎不仅限于身体疼痛，还表现出精神方面的影响。此外，患者出院后精神病理学方面的影响似乎也会持续存在。我们的目标是研究受 COVID-19 影响的患者的心理影响和精神病理学结果。
我们纳入了 34 名在意大利罗马“Policlinico Gemelli 基金会”住院的 COVID-19 患者[其中 8 名为医护人员患者（HCW）]。所有患者在住院期间（基线）、出院后 4 个月（随访）通过电话访谈，首先使用修订后的事件影响量表（IES-R）和症状清单 90-R（SCL-90-R）进行评估。
在基线时，根据 IES-R，82%的患者显示出 COVID-19 的轻度至重度心理影响。在随访时，IES-R 总分显著降低（p<0.001），尽管我们队列中的近一半（46.6%）仍显示出较高的分数。HCW 患者在 IES-R 量表上的得分明显高于其他患者，无论是在基线（p=0.005）还是在随访时（p<0.001）。此外，在出院后 4 个月时，他们表现出更明显的中度和重度困扰的比例（p=0.015）。除此之外，在随访时，我们的患者群体表现出焦虑症状的增加，尽管与基线相比没有显著差异（分别为 46.7%和 35.3%；p=1.000），并且 HCW 患者比其他患者遭受更多的睡眠障碍（p=0.019）和焦虑症状（p=0.019）。
我们指出了评估 COVID-19 幸存者精神病理学的重要性，监测他们随时间的变化，并提供心理支持以改善他们的心理健康。
