The associations of long-COVID symptoms, clinical characteristics and affective psychological constructs in a non-hospitalized cohort

Ocsovszky, Zsófia and Otohal, József and Berényi, Blanka and Juhász, Vencel and Skoda, Réka and Nagy, György and Vágó, Hajnalka and Bokor, Laura and Dohy, Zsófia and Szabó, Liliána and Nagy, György and Becker, Dávid and Merkely, Béla (2022) The associations of long-COVID symptoms, clinical characteristics and affective psychological constructs in a non-hospitalized cohort. Physiology International, 109 (2). pp. 230-245. ISSN 2498-602X

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Abstract

Abstract Objective The effects of COVID-19, especially long-COVID, on the psychological health is incompletely understood. We aimed to evaluate the mid-term associations of the long-COVID symptoms and affective factors in a cohort of non-hospitalized patients. Method A total of 166 patients were enrolled in this study, including 119 sedentary/non-athlete and 47 athlete subjects at the Post-COVID Outpatient Clinic of Semmelweis University. Clinical data regarding acute and long-term symptoms were obtained and detailed laboratory testing was carried out. Demographic data and psychological tests were collected. Results We found a positive association between the level of depressive symptoms and anxiety and long-COVID symptom count, while life satisfaction and social support correlated negatively with the long-COVID symptom count. Higher haemoglobin levels and lower LDL-cholesterol were also shown to be moderating factors. A regression model showed that symptoms during acute infection, depression, age, and life satisfaction are predictors of the long-COVID symptom count. The presence of pre-existing affective or anxiety problems was also associated with higher reported long-COVID symptom count. Furthermore, we found significant association between pre-existing mental health problems and the investigated psychological constructs. Conclusion It appears that long COVID-19 is associated with acute symptoms and mental factors. Depression and anxiety have been shown to have a negative effect on symptom perception, and also contribute to a higher number of symptoms in a non-hospitalized sample. Our study suggests bi-directional interconnection between clinical and psychological factors.

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