Psychopathology in Elderly COVID-19 Survivors and Controls.

BACKGROUND

The highly infectious and pathogenic coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) has emerged to cause a global pandemic. In this cross-sectional comparative study, our objective is to compare the depression and anxiety symptoms in elderly COVID-19 survivors with a control group.

METHOD

69 elderly COVID-19 survivors (age 65 or older) within 2 weeks post-discharge were assessed for anxiety and depression symptoms by a package of self-rating scales (Geriatric Anxiety Scale-10 (GAS-10), Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) and General Health Questionar-28 (GHQ-28)). Their scores were compared with a group of aged-matched residents without COVID-19 in their community.

RESULTS

The mean scores on GAS-10, GDS-15 and GHQ-28 in the COVID-19 survivors group and control group were 12.06 vs. 6.53 (p < .001), 12.48 vs. 5.73 (p < .001), 52.7 vs. 29.8 (p < .001), respectively. All of the COVID-19 survivors and 60% of the controls had scores in the pathological range of GHQ-28 scale. A total of 93.2% of COVID-19 survivors revealed anxiety symptoms in GAS-10 scale. This rate was 60% in the control group. A total of 86.6% of COVID-19 survivors compared to 46.6% of the controls reported symptoms of depression in GDS-15 scale.

CONCLUSION

The rate of depression and anxiety symptoms in elderly COVID-19 survivors and controls found to be high during the pandemic. However, COVID-19 survivors significantly suffered more.