Correlation Study of Short-Term Mental Health in Patients Discharged After Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Infection without Comorbidities: A Prospective Study

OBJECTIVE: The WHO has upgraded the status of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from epidemic to global pandemic. The psychometric properties aspects of COVID-19 patients without comorbidities in the short term after discharge have not been reported. In this study, the Short Form 36 (SF-36) was used to evaluate the psychometric properties and to find relevant risk factors. METHODS: The study was conducted in seven hospitals from January 2020 to April 2020. The SF-36 questionnaire was administered one month after discharge. Univariate analysis and multivariate regression model were used to analyze the risk factors of psychometric properties impairment. RESULTS: In univariate analysis of independent risk factors, according to the comparison of whether the duration of positive nucleic acid was greater than 20 days, the positive nucleic acid duration was independently related to the decreased role-emotional value [100, IQR (66–100) vs 100, IQR (0, 100); p = 0.0156]. In addition, multivariable linear regression model showed that male sex and positive nucleic acid duration were related to decreased role-emotional value (p = 0.03< 0.05; p = 0.01< 0.05, respectively). Mental health was associated with age (p= 0.0435). Subsequently, we divided into three subgroups: less than seven days, 7 to 14 days and more than 14 days according to the positive nucleic acid duration. The results revealed that there were significant differences in the vitality value and mental health value of patients aged 46 to 69 in the subgroup where the positive nucleic acid duration longer than 14 days (p= 0.0472; p= 0.0311< 0.05, respectively). Similarly, there are also significant differences in role-emotional value in different genders (p= 0.0316). CONCLUSION: The study described the psychometric properties of COVID-19 patients without comorbidities shortly after discharge. Risk factors for psychometric properties damage included age, male sex, and nucleic acid duration.