Dysfunctional anxiety in women recovered from COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Studies assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 have shown that patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms than healthy controls. Objectives: The objectives of our study were to assess dysfunctional anxiety in women recovered from COVID-19 and to compare it to healthy controls. Methods: This is a cross-sectional case-control study. We randomly recruited women, from April 1st to 30th, 2021.The women in the case group have been infected with Sars-Cov 2, with a benign or pauci-symptomatic clinical form, and cured for one to two months at the time of the study without any post-COVID complications. Women included in the control group have not been infected with Sars-Cov 2 .Anxiety was assessed by the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS). Results: In total, we recruited 30 women in the case group and 30 women in the control group.The average age of the case group was 35.8 ±6.8 years versus an average age of 35.3 ± 6.33 years in the control group. The majority of coronavirus infections were symptomatic (83.3% (n=25)). Nearly one-third of the patients in the case group had a CAS score greater than 9, indicating dysfunctional anxiety probably related to coronavirus (33.3%), with a significant difference with the control group (p=0.026). Conclusions: COVID-19 is significantly associated with dysfunctional anxiety, even in mild or pauci-symptomatic clinical forms.