Anxiety and depression and its correlates in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan

Abstract

Objectives

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first broke-out in Wuhan China in December 2019, and spread throughout the entire country within a short time. This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of depression and anxiety and associated risk factors were analysed in patients with COVID-19.

Methods

This single-center cross-sectional study focussed on measuring depression and anxiety using self-report scales. Linear regression was used to determine independent predictors for depression and anxiety.

Results

A total of 78 patients who were confirmed to have COVID-19 were enrolled in the study. Prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms were diagnosed in 35.9% and 38.5% of the patients, respectively. Multivariate linear regression analysis found female gender was an independent predictor for higher depression severity index. Having family members who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and family members who died from COVID-19 were independently associated with higher depression severity index and anxiety score.

Conclusions

Patients with COVID-19 especially those who had family members diagnosed with COVID-19 or died from COVID-19 were more susceptible to depression and anxiety than were other patients. Effective strategies should be pursued to improve the mental health of this patient population.

Key points

• Patients with COVID-19 showed a significantly high prevalence of depression and anxiety.

• Female patients were associated with higher risk of depression.

• Patients with family members diagnosed as COVID-19 or died from this disease were associated with higher risk of depression and anxiety.

Keywords:

• Depression
• anxiety
• COVID-19

Acknowledgments

The authors express their appreciation to all the patients, and nursing staff of the medical team from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.