Psychological Morbidity Among COVID-19 Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Health Care Workers.

A range of psychiatric morbidities such as persistent depression, anxiety, insomnia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been observed in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors. The objective of this study was to explore the psychological status of health care workers after recovery from COVID-19 and to examine the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with psychiatric morbidity. A cross-sectional study was conducted among health care workers of a tertiary care hospital in South India. The study included health care workers who tested positive for COVID-19 according to the provisional guidelines of the World Health Organization. The data were collected after they tested negative for COVID-19 from September 2020 to October 2020. The study used a semistructured proforma and rating scales such as the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for to assess for depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The results indicate that the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and PTSD among 107 post-COVID patients was 26.2%%, 12.1%, and 3.7%%, respectively. Female sex ( = .017), patients with post-COVID persistent physical symptoms ( = .05), and the duration of fever during the acute phase of COVID-19 infection ( = .005) were found to have a statistically significant association with a higher rate of depression among the study population. The study findings indicate that all COVID-19 survivors working in the health care sector should be screened for depression and anxiety disorders regularly for early detection and effective management.