• Sagar Khera, Manmeet Kaur, Rupinder Kaur, Abhishek Sharma, Ritin Mohindra, Vikas Suri, P V M Lakshmi, Roop Kishor Soni, Ashish Bhalla, and Shubh Mohan Singh.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India.
• Natl Med J India. 2022 Jul 1; 35 (4): 210214210-214.

AbstractBackground It is reported that patients who have recovered from Covid-19 continue to experience various symptoms and adverse outcomes. However, this aspect has not been studied well. We aimed to evaluate these variables and the perceived impact of Covid-19 among patients discharged from a Covid hospital in northern India. Methods We conducted this study among patients discharged from a Covid-19 hospital in northern India in June 2020. As per the official policy at that time, patients detected to have Covid-19 (symptomatically or via contact tracing) were mandatorily admitted. A sequential, mixed-methods design was followed. Patients discharged from the hospital were contacted telephonically, and the cross-sectional prevalence of symptoms, the prevalence of depression and anxiety and the social consequences of admission were assessed. A subgroup of patients was interviewed for qualitative assessment of their experience. Results A total of 274 patients provided consent and were assessed, of which 8 patients underwent detailed interviews. The prevalence of somatic symptoms was 3.4%; 36.2% of the patients had depressive and 12% of the patients had anxiety symptoms. A majority of patients experienced adverse social and economic consequences of hospitalization for Covid-19. These themes were reinforced by a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews. Conclusions Our study population experienced a high prevalence of adverse psychosocial consequences of Covid-19. These included depression and anxiety symptoms, stigma and economic and occupational consequences. These deserve more recognition and study.

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