Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms among Discharged COVID-19 Patients from Isolation Centers in North-Central, Nigeria: A Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an unprecedented number of people to be isolated and this negatively impacted on manifestations of various anxiety and depressive symptoms. Our study determined the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and the associated sociodemographic and clinical factors among discharged COVID-19 patients in North-Central, Nigeria.

Methods: One hundred and sixteen discharged COVID-19 patients were assessed in a cross-sectional study during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Jos, North-Central, Nigeria. The age, gender, educational level, length of stay in isolation, and presence of symptoms of COVID-19 were assessed with a semi-structured questionnaire designed by the authors. The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 was used to assess for the symptoms of anxiety and depression among participants.

Results: The mean age was 38.7 ± 14.6 years. More men (59%) were assessed with 67.2% of the participants "ever married," and 43% had tertiary education. Voluntary admission was 62% and about 14% had symptoms of COVID-19. Forty-three percent had stayed for more than 10 days. The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression was 17.2% and 9.5%, respectively, with 10.3% having combined symptoms. No significant association between the various sociodemographic and clinical factors, with symptoms of anxiety, except for the female gender which was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (P = 0.026).

Conclusion: Isolation and COVID-19 impact on the manifestation of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Screening for anxiety and depressive symptoms should be integrated into the comprehensive psychological management of patients, especially for epidemic-prone diseases like COVID-19 that are associated with stigma.