MH Symptoms of Survivors of Severe COVID-19 Improve With Follow-Up Care

Veterans who received outpatient care from a clinic that provided psychiatric services after being discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) for severe COVID-19-related illness showed significant mental health improvements in the months following their discharge. Thefindings of the small study were published in the May/June issue of theJournal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.More than half of ICU survivors will acquire post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) in the months following hospital discharge, wrote George E. Sayde, M.D., M.P.H., of Tulane University and colleagues. “Within this cohort, the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms related to the ICU is about 40% and 30%, respectively,” they added.A PICS outpatient clinic was established in May 2021 within the VA Department of Ambulatory Mental Health in New Orleans, designed to meet the needs of patients who had been hospitalized with critical illnesses related to COVID-19. ICU survivors referred to the PICS clinic received regular multidisciplinary care including psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, case management, and referrals to specialty care, when needed. Patients were screened for symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety at their initial evaluation and then every three months, using the PTSD Checklist (PLC-5), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder checklist (GAD-7).Sayde and colleagues examined data from 77 patients who...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: anxiety COVID-19 depression GAD-7 intensive care unit Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry PHQ-9 PLC-5 post-ICU posttraumatic stress disorder Source Type: research