Gender differences in patients with corona virus disease-2019 presenting with psychiatric disturbances: a multicentre study

The coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 (2019) pandemic may increase the likelihood of psychological symptoms that can reach the level of psychiatric disorders.

We aimed to study psychiatric morbidity in patients with COVID-19 concerning gender differences and disease severity in the acute phase of infection and after 6 months.

This is a multicenter follow-up study registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04459403). Patients were recruited consecutively from three quarantine hospitals in Egypt. Data were collected through a questionnaire built using Google Forms including the Arabic versions of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS). Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed after 6 months.

The study questionnaire was offered to 400 patients and 199 patients agreed to fill it. BDI and TAMS were higher in mild than moderate and severe COVID-19 (14, 8, 8, P-value = 0.009, 17, 13.5, 14, P-value = 0.04, respectively). Females showed a higher prevalence of depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and insomnia due to anxiety than males. Education level, marital status, previous psychiatric illness, and severity of COVID-19 independently affected depression. Marital status, family history of psychiatric illness, and chronic medical illness independently affected anxiety. On 6-month follow-up, BDI significantly decreased in males but not females. TMAS showed no significant changes, but the severity of anxiety was still higher in females. PTSD was more frequent in females (26 (37.1%) versus 4 (9.5%), respectively, P-value = 0.02).

The prevalence and severity of depression and anxiety were higher in females than male participants, suggesting that females are more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.