A MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT IN RECONVALESCENTS OF THE NEW CORONAVIRUS INFECTION COVID-19

From the start of the new coronavirus pandemic there remains the question about its effects on the psyche of people. Judging from the earlier cases of similar illnesses like MERS or TOPC, some researchers assume that the new coronavirus infection can lead to a harsher or worser course of many mental illnesses. With the goal of finding those patterns we conducted a survey of people who were infected with the new strain of the coronavirus infection of different levels in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The survey covered 82 respondents of different age groups (from 18 to 30 years old – 43 people, from 31 to 44 years old – 13 people, from 45 to 59 – 21 people, from 60 to 74 – 5 people), with 69 individuals being female (84.2 %) and 13 individuals being male (15.8 %). The average age of the respondents was 34.5 years. Out of all the respondents, 23 (28 %) people received the treatment in hospital, 59 (72 %) people were treated in ambulatory conditions. The survey was based on the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). This scale consists out of two parts and 14 questions, with each part including 7 questions. For the study, the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) was duplicated, which means it had variations to assess how the respondents feel before and after being infected with the new strain of the coronavirus. The results of the survey of those people that had the new coronavirus infection and were graded by the HADS, the signs of clinical depression were seen in 2.4 % of the respondents before being infected with the new strain of coronavirus; after being cured this group of respondents increased to 14.7 %. Before the illness, signs of clinical depression were manifested in 1.2 % of the respondents; after the illness this number grew to 6.1 %. The signs of needed clinical anxiety were shown by 6 respondents (7.3 %); clinical depression was diagnosed in 14 respondents (17.1 %). An increase state of anxiety was found in the elderly (3.6 %) and states of depression in the young (17 %).

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