Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Patients After Severe COVID-19 Infection

In view of reports describing association of previous coronavirus epidemics with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnoses in postillness stages, researchers sought to gain information after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by analyzing a group of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who underwent treatment at the emergency department, most of whom necessitated hospitalization, eventually recovered, and were afterwards referred to a postacute care service for multidisciplinary assessment. In this cross-sectional study, they studied a total of 381 consecutive patients referred for a postrecovery health check to a postacute care service established at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS in Rome, Italy. After acute COVID-19 infection, a PTSD prevalence of 30.2% was identified, which is in line with findings in survivors of previous coronavirus illnesses compared with findings reported after other types of collective traumatic events. Following were identified to be the associated characteristics: female gender, which has been extensively described as a risk factor for PTSD, history of psychiatric disorders, and delirium or agitation during acute illness. In addition, the PTSD group more frequently had persistent medical symptoms, often described by patients after recovery from severe COVID-19.

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