Evaluation of anxiety, depression, trauma level in patients aged 8-18 diagnosed with COVID-19

Objective: It was aimed to evaluate the psychological effects such as depression and anxiety levels in children who had COVID-19 disease. Material and Method: Between March 2020 and June 2021, 200 patients aged 8-18 years, who were diagnosed with COVID-19 by PCR testing and were hospitalized or treated at home, or who completed the 14-day quarantine period at home, were included. "The Child Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index", "Child Depression Inventory" and "Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders" were used. Results:In this study, data of 200 patients were compiled. 50.5% of the patients were male and the mean age was 13.4 years. Sixty-seven of the patients were in childhood and the rest were adolescents. Depression symptoms were observed in 10% of all patients. Panic/somatization symptoms were observed in 17% of the patients, separation anxiety in 34%, social phobia in 19.5% and school phobia in 6% of the patients. Symptoms in at least one anxiety subscale were observed in 41% of the patients. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were observed in 44.5% of the patients, and these symptoms were severe in 5.5% of all patients. The anxiety and post-traumatic stress response scale scores of girls were found to be significantly higher (p=0.01). No significant correlation was observed between the length of stay and the scores of the applied psychological tests. A moderate to high significant correlation was observed between depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress response scale. In the Posttraumatic Stress Reaction Index scores, the scores of the outpatients were found to be significantly higher than the other group (p=0.01). While the mean scores of inpatients in the social phobia subscale were higher; In the school phobia subscale, the mean scores of the outpatients were found to be significantly higher (p=0.01 and p=0.05, respectively). Conclusion:As a result of the data obtained from our study, it has been determined that children and adolescents can be affected psychologically by COVID-19 disease. It should be kept in mind that the psychiatric conditions occurring in these children may cause more severe consequences in the future if neglected, and that children with COVID-19 disease should be evaluated in this respect by experienced psychiatrists in order to detect this at an early stage. Key Words: Adolescent, Anxiety, COVID-19, Depression, MentalHealth