Assessment of Psychosocial Impact of Mild to Moderate Covid-19 Disease in Hospitalised Patients in India: A Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Covid-19 pandemic has had severe impact on mental health and well-being of people around the globe. The uncountable loss of life, disruption of face-to-face health services and the uncertainty that followed raised concerns over mental health of all people. The impact was much worse in hospitalised covid-19 individuals. Most of the studies done on Covid-19 and mental health were focused on general population and health care workers. In our clinical practise, we observed an increased level of anxiety, stress and depression among hospitalised covid-19 individuals. Hence, we aim to assess the prevalence of psychological distress in these patients and there by validate our observation. Aims and Objectives: To assess the psychological impact of mild to moderate covid-19 disease in hospitalised patients. Material(s) and Method(s) A cross-sectional study was conducted in mild to moderate Covid-19 patients admitted to the tertiary care centre. A total of 501 patients filled 2 questionnaires - Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21(DASS-21) and Psycho-Social Assessment scale (PSA), a self-structured questionnaire. Result(s) In the depression subscale of DASS-21, 141(28.1%) had mild depression, 101(20.2%) had moderate depression, and 8 (1.6%) had severe depression. In the anxiety subscale, 105(20.9%) had mild anxiety, 198 (39.5%) had moderate anxiety, 35 (7.0%) had severe anxiety and 3 (0.6%) had extremely severe anxiety. In the stress subscale, 132(26.4 %) had mild stress, 161(32.1%) had moderate stress and 51 (10.2%) had severe stress. Patients above 30 years of age had moderate anxiety and stress, with stress being statistically significant among all age groups and gender. There were about 70% prevalence rate in all subgroups in PSA scale with anxiety being highest with 78%. Conclusion(s) The present study is a frontrunner in exploring the spectrum of psychological distress in hospitalised individuals due to Covid-19 disease. The uncertainty that the pandemic has inflicted upon us and its associated social stigma and economic recession has led to widespread increase in stress, anxiety and depression on people, including youngsters. Government, policy-makers and treating physicians should continue to provide mental health evaluation as an essential health service in all covid-19 affected individuals for early risk stratification and prevention of any unfavourable outcome. Copyright © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.