EVALUATION OF THE OCCURRENCE OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY IN PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED BY COVID-19 AT HOSPITAL SÃO FRANCISCO DE ASSIS (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Introduction: Corona Virus Disease 2019, called coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. In addition to the medical risk, the pandemic is having huge impacts on individuals' mental health. Higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression are predicted following the stay-at-home order, as confinement can tend to produce or exacerbate such psychological problems. Individuals with chronic illnesses are also expected to have higher levels of psychological symptoms since COVID-19 tends to present more severely in individuals with multiple comorbidities. As for age group, older adults are expected to be psychologically more vulnerable to the pandemic. Objetictive: is to investigate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on patients who were hospitalized at the Hospital Universitário São Francisco de Assis (HUSF), in order to develop strategies for clinical intervention in the mental health of this population before it gets worse months after hospitalization for COVID-19, correlating with the patients' comorbidities and their risk factors, age and severity of hospitalization. Methodology: Interview by telephone contact with application of Anxiety scales, Hamilton Scale and Depression, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), after 6 to 8 months of hospitalization, which occurred between March 2020 and January 2022. Results: Regarding depression: 16% had mild depression, 28% had moderate depression, 21% had moderately severe depression and 9% had severe depression, with 6 suicide attempts. Regarding anxiety: 8% had mild pathological anxiety, 38% had moderate pathological anxiety and 17% had severe pathological anxiety.Conclusion: It is evident the need for psychological and psychiatric evaluation of patients after hospitalization for COVID-19 in the shortest possible time, in order to diagnose some degree of psychological dysfunction and initiate their respective treatment for a better prognosis.