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| - OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychological distress and the associated predictor factors of the 2019 corona-virus disease (COVID-19) on survivors in the early recovery stage across their ages in Shenzhen. METHOD: A survey questionnaire consisting of post-traumatic stress disorder self-rating scale (PTSD-SS), self-rating depression scale (SDS) and self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) was presented to COVID-19 survivors still in quarantine. Demographic variables, sociopsychological variables, medical history, and overall parameters of COVID-19 were collected by telephone interviews and by checking medical records. Scores of each scale and subscale were dependent variables in the statistical analysis using the Mann-Whitney test and stepwise regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 126 subjects were included in the study, the mean scores of PTSD-SS, SDS and SAS were 45.5±18.9, 47.3±13.1 and 43.2±10.2 respectively, meanwhile, 9(31.0%), 28 (22.2%), and 48(38.1%) of the survivors met the cut-score for clinical significant symptoms of stress response, anxiety and depression, respectively. Infected family members, and post-infection physical discomforts were significantly associated with scores on all three scales. Social support, retirement, and being female had significant associations with the PTSD-SS score. The survivors aged 60 or above experienced less severe stress response symptoms, fewer emotional symptoms of depression, and fewer anxiety symptoms than younger survivors. CONCLUSION: The occurrence rate of psychological distress among the COVID-19 survivors in early convalescence was high, which may improve after the quarantine or may persist and even deteriorate with time as reported in SARS survivors, highlighting the need for all COVID-19 survivors to be screened for psychological distress regularly for timely intervention. The predictors indicated by the current study may help to identify those at high-risk. The current study also contributes to geriatric psychiatry by indicating that the older survivors suffered less emotional reactivity and fewer stress response symptoms from infectious diseases than the younger ones.
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