Occurrence and Severity of Anxiety, Depression, and Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Post-Coronavirus Disease Syndrome

Introduction. Long-term symptoms of post-coronavirus disease (COVID) syndrome significantly impacted patients’ health during the pandemic and a long time after. The aim of the study. To study the clinical characteristics of anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment in patients with post-coronavirus disease 2019 syndrome. Materials and methods. The study was conducted in compliance with the principles of the 7th revision of the Declaration of Helsinki on Human Rights (2013), the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, and the relevant laws of Ukraine. The consent of the Ethics Commission of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University was obtained (protocol No. 2 from February 20, 2023). 82 individuals (diagnosed with COVID-19 between September and November 2021 participated in this study. 61 (74.0%) of these participants, were classified as having post-COVID-19. Patients’ general examination consisted of: A.T. Beck`s Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used to evaluate the level of depression, anxiety and cognitive impairment respectively. The H. B. Mann - D. R. Whitney U statistical non-parametrical test was used to compare data. We compared data in two periods of time: during acute COVID-19 and 12 weeks later, which resulted into three groups of people. Group A: control group (n = 20). Group B: patients who suffered from COVID-19 but didn’t develop post-COVID syndrome (n = 21). Group C: patients who developed the post-COVID syndrome (n = 61). Results. Group C showed significantly higher anxiety than the Group (A) (p < 0.0001), as did the Group B p < 0.0001). At time point 2 Group C continued to show higher depression levels compared to Group B (p < 0.0001). At both time points, Group C exhibited significantly lower cognitive scores compared to Group B (all p < 0.0001). After 12 weeks, group B did not differ significantly from the control group in cognitive function (p > 0.05), whereas a highly significant difference was observed during acute COVID-19 (p < 0.0001). Conclusions. The results of our study not only showed significant differences between people who suffered post-COVID syndrome, but also suggest that COVID-19 alone may induce some level of impairment across these measures, but the impairments are significantly amplified in those who develop post-COVID syndrome.