Mental Health Status of COVID‑19 Survivors: Post-COVID-19 Challenges

Background: Coronavirus pandemics are associated with high levels of mental stress. This study investigated the incidence of mental health problems in patients who recovered from coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on COVID-19 survivors in Urmia, Iran, from January 2020 to December 2020. Recovered COVID-19 patients were included in the study by simple random sampling. All eligible participants were interviewed in person and were given a questionnaire about demographic, personal, and clinical characteristics, as well as stressors related to COVID-19. The participants completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the 42-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-42) to report depression, anxiety, and stress/tension levels. Results: Of 340 participants, 167 (49.1%) were males and 173 (50.9%) were females, with a mean age of 43.8±11.3 years. Based on the results, 17 (2.1%) patients had severe symptoms of psychosomatic illness, and 28 (8.2%) were in a moderate physical health status. In addition, 2 (0.6%) patients had severe anxiety symptoms, and 54 (15.9%) had moderate anxiety symptoms. Mild and moderate depression were present only in 46 (13.5%) and 4 (1.2%) patients. Univariate logistic regression analysis a noticeable relationship between psychiatric variables and age, female gender, low/no educational level, hospitalization, retirement, being a housewife, being widowed or divorced, and having more than four children (P<0.05). Conclusion: Anxiety, depression, and stress levels remained significant after the outbreak instead of abating with time. It could be suggested that psychological support may be necessary for the rehabilitation phase and should not be overlooked in developing different episodes of pandemic diseases.