Anxiety, Post–COVID-19 Syndrome-Related Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in COVID-19 Survivors: Cross-sectional Study. Woodward, S. F., Bari, S., Vike, N., Lalvani, S., Stetsiv, K., Kim, B. W., Stefanopoulos, L., Maglaveras, N., Breiter, H., & Katsaggelos, A. K. JMIR Formative Research, 6(10):e36656, JMIR Publications Inc., Toronto, Canada, oct, 2022.
Anxiety, Post–COVID-19 Syndrome-Related Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in COVID-19 Survivors: Cross-sectional Study [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Background: Although the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on the general population have been well studied, studies of the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on infected individuals are relatively new. To date, depression, anxiety, and neurological symptoms associated with post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) have been observed in the months following COVID-19 recovery. Suicidal thoughts and behavior (STB) have also been preliminarily proposed as sequelae of COVID-19. Objective: We asked 3 questions. First, do participants reporting a history of COVID-19 diagnosis or a close relative having severe COVID-19 symptoms score higher on depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]) or state anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Index) screens than those who do not? Second, do participants reporting a COVID-19 diagnosis score higher on PCS-related PHQ-9 items? Third, do participants reporting a COVID-19 diagnosis or a close relative having severe COVID-19 symptoms score higher in STB before, during, or after the first year of the pandemic? Methods: This preliminary study analyzed responses to a COVID-19 and mental health questionnaire obtained from a US population sample, whose data were collected between February 2021 and March 2021. We used the Mann-Whitney U test to detect differences in the medians of the total PHQ-9 scores, PHQ-9 component scores, and several STB scores between participants claiming a past clinician diagnosis of COVID-19 and those denying one, as well as between participants claiming severe COVID-19 symptoms in a close relative and those denying them. Where significant differences existed, we created linear regression models to predict the scores based on COVID-19 response as well as demographics to identify potential confounding factors in the Mann-Whitney relationships. Moreover, for STB scores, which corresponded to 5 questions asking about 3 different time intervals (i.e., past 1 year or more, past 1 month to 1 year, and past 1 month), we developed repeated-measures ANOVAs to determine whether scores tended to vary over time. Results: We found greater total depression (PHQ-9) and state anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Index) scores in those with COVID-19 history than those without (Bonferroni P = .001 and Bonferroni P = .004) despite a similar history of diagnosed depression and anxiety. Greater scores were noted for a subset of depression symptoms (PHQ-9 items) that overlapped with the symptoms of PCS (all Bonferroni Ps < .05). Moreover, we found greater overall STB scores in those with COVID-19 history, equally in time windows preceding, during, and proceeding infection (all Bonferroni Ps < .05). Conclusions: We confirm previous studies linking depression and anxiety diagnoses to COVID-19 recovery. Moreover, our findings suggest that depression diagnoses associated with COVID-19 history relate to PCS symptoms, and that STB associated with COVID-19 in some cases precede infection.
@article{Woodward2022,
abstract = {Background: Although the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on the general population have been well studied, studies of the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on infected individuals are relatively new. To date, depression, anxiety, and neurological symptoms associated with post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) have been observed in the months following COVID-19 recovery. Suicidal thoughts and behavior (STB) have also been preliminarily proposed as sequelae of COVID-19. Objective: We asked 3 questions. First, do participants reporting a history of COVID-19 diagnosis or a close relative having severe COVID-19 symptoms score higher on depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]) or state anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Index) screens than those who do not? Second, do participants reporting a COVID-19 diagnosis score higher on PCS-related PHQ-9 items? Third, do participants reporting a COVID-19 diagnosis or a close relative having severe COVID-19 symptoms score higher in STB before, during, or after the first year of the pandemic? Methods: This preliminary study analyzed responses to a COVID-19 and mental health questionnaire obtained from a US population sample, whose data were collected between February 2021 and March 2021. We used the Mann-Whitney U test to detect differences in the medians of the total PHQ-9 scores, PHQ-9 component scores, and several STB scores between participants claiming a past clinician diagnosis of COVID-19 and those denying one, as well as between participants claiming severe COVID-19 symptoms in a close relative and those denying them. Where significant differences existed, we created linear regression models to predict the scores based on COVID-19 response as well as demographics to identify potential confounding factors in the Mann-Whitney relationships. Moreover, for STB scores, which corresponded to 5 questions asking about 3 different time intervals (i.e., past 1 year or more, past 1 month to 1 year, and past 1 month), we developed repeated-measures ANOVAs to determine whether scores tended to vary over time. Results: We found greater total depression (PHQ-9) and state anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Index) scores in those with COVID-19 history than those without (Bonferroni P = .001 and Bonferroni P = .004) despite a similar history of diagnosed depression and anxiety. Greater scores were noted for a subset of depression symptoms (PHQ-9 items) that overlapped with the symptoms of PCS (all Bonferroni Ps < .05). Moreover, we found greater overall STB scores in those with COVID-19 history, equally in time windows preceding, during, and proceeding infection (all Bonferroni Ps < .05). Conclusions: We confirm previous studies linking depression and anxiety diagnoses to COVID-19 recovery. Moreover, our findings suggest that depression diagnoses associated with COVID-19 history relate to PCS symptoms, and that STB associated with COVID-19 in some cases precede infection.},
author = {Woodward, Sean F. and Bari, Sumra and Vike, Nicole and Lalvani, Shamal and Stetsiv, Khrystyna and Kim, Byoung Woo and Stefanopoulos, Leandros and Maglaveras, Nicos and Breiter, Hans and Katsaggelos, Aggelos K.},
doi = {10.2196/36656},
issn = {2561-326X},
journal = {JMIR Formative Research},
keywords = {COVID-19,PHQ-9,Patient Health Questionnaire-9,STAI,State Trait Anxiety Index,depression,post-COVID-19 syndrome,suicidality},
month = {oct},
number = {10},
pages = {e36656},
publisher = {JMIR Publications Inc., Toronto, Canada},
title = {{Anxiety, Post–COVID-19 Syndrome-Related Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in COVID-19 Survivors: Cross-sectional Study}},
url = {https://formative.jmir.org/2022/10/e36656},
volume = {6},
year = {2022}
}

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