Abstract:
Objectives: During the pandemic, anxiety, stress, and
depression may occur increasingly in the whole society. To evaluate the
possible cause, incidence and levels of anxiety and depression in the
relatives of the patients in the ICU in accordance with the patients’
SARS-CoV-2 PCR result.
Materials and Method: The study was prospectively conducted on
relatives of patients admitted to tertiary intensive care units during
COVID-19 pandemic. Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients and
their relatives were recorded. “The Turkish version of the Hospital
Anxiety and Depression Scale” questionnaire was applied twice to the
relatives of 120 patients to determine the symptoms of anxiety and
depression in accordance with the PCR results of the patients (PCR
positive n=60, PCR negative n=60).
Results: The ratios above cut-off values for anxiety and
depression among relatives of the patients were 45.8% and 67.5% for
the first test and 46.7% and 62.5% for the second test respectively.
The anxiety and depression in the relatives of PCR positive patients was
more frequent than the PCR negative (p< 0.001 for HADS-A and
p=0.034 for HADS-D). The prevalence of anxiety and depression was
significantly higher in female participants (p=0.046 for HADS-A and
p=0.009 for HADS-A). There was no significant correlation between HADS
and age of the patient or education of the participants. The fact that
the patients were hospitalized in the ICU during the pandemic was an
independent risk factor for anxiety (AUC = 0.746) while restriction of
patient visiting in the ICU was found to be an independent risk factor
for depression (AUC= 0.703).
Conclusion: While patient with positive PCR and participant
with female gender is responsible for both anxiety and depression,
hospitalization in the ICU due to COVID-19 is an independent risk factor
for anxiety and restriction of patient visiting in the ICU is an
independent risk factor for depression.
Keywords: Anxiety, depression, hospital anxiety depression
scale, intensive care unit, COVID-19, family members