Physical and Psychological Impacts on COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients of 3rd Wave

ABSTRACT

Background: COVID shelters and many emergency centers were established as a countermeasure to control this pandemic that hit the word by the end of 2019. Due to unavailability of medical care, along with physical health is-sues, these patients suffer with mental health related issues. Aims: This study aimed to explore the both, physical and psychological impacts upon the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted in intensive care units of hospitals of Pakistan during the third wave. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was performed during the peak time of COVID-19 for the duration of two months i.e. April & May 2021. After getting ethical approval from Shifa International Hopsital (Ref# 070-021), permission was sorted from public and private hospitals of Pakistan. 183 conscious patients diagnosed with COVID and currently admitted in intensive care units were randomly selected from hospitals of Islamabad and Rawal-pindi. Written consent was taken from patients and their caregivers after they were briefed regarding the importance of the study. PHQ-15 was used to assess somatic symptoms related to COVID-19 whereas DASS-21 was used to assess level of depression, anxiety and stress among patients. Results: Of 183 hospitalized patients of COVID-19 in intensive care units, 170 (92.9%) participants showed mild to severe level of somatic symptoms on PHQ-15. Shortness of breath, feeling hearth race, back pain, stomach pain, low energy and sleeping difficulties were the most common somatic complaints reported by patients. The statistics of DASS-21 showed that 51 (27.86%) participants had mild to severe level of depres-sion, 74 (40.4%) had mild to profound level of anxiety and 96 (52.45%) reported mild to profound level of stress. Conclu-sion This study portrayed a better understanding and confirms the physical and psychological impacts upon hospitalized COVID-19 patients, therefore highlighting the need of both physical and mental health interventions to minimize these impacts.