In a new study from Paris University, researchers found family members of patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 experience a doubled risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at 90 days post-ICU discharge.
In the study, they compared the association between patient hospitalization for COVID-19 versus non-COVID-19 and the risk for PTSD-related symptoms in family members.
The analysis included 602 family members and 307 patients (181 patients with COVID-19).
The researchers found that family members of patients with COVID-19 had a much higher prevalence of symptoms of PTSD (35 versus 19%), symptoms of anxiety (41 versus 34%), and symptoms of depression (31 versus 18%) compared with family members of non-COVID-19.
COVID-19 was strongly linked to an increased risk for PTSD-related symptoms in family members.
Among bereaved family members of patients who died from COVID-19, PTSD prevalence was nearly twice as high as in family members of survivors (62 versus 35%).
The team says the disruption produced by the pandemic may have adversely affected the post-ICU outcomes.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about new drug that could prevent COVID-19, and the treatment that may prevent COVID death and lung damage.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies that PTSD, anxiety, loneliness are common after COVID-19 hospitalization, and results showing deep sleep could help ease your anxiety.
The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and was conducted by Elie Azoulay et al.
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