A PERSPECTIVE OF POST COVID-19 SYMPTOMS AND MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

The symptoms of COVID-19 are acute and mostly people recovered from these after a specific time period. Although, a considerable percentage of patients around the globe were affected but Per our knowledge, study of post covid 19 associated mental health symptoms found scarce. The present study was organized to inspect the frequency of long-term anosmia, parosmia, odynophagia
and associated mental health issues in the Pakistani population. A 5-month study was collected via an online questionnaire and phone calls among patients infected from March 2020 to February 2021. This study included a total of 124 patients with COVID-19 RT-PCR positive test. It was recorded by this survey that almost 13% of cases were with long-term anosmia, 81% with parosmia after short-term anosmia, and 79%with odynophagia. The level of depression and anxiety among patients suffering from long-term parosmia was significantly higher in participants than in anosmia. Most shockingly, a large fraction of respondents showed self-medication during the COVID-19 infection leading to the misuse of antibiotics, especially azithromycin, as medical treatment. To summarize, anosmia, parosmia and odynophagia are prominent, persistent symptoms of COVID-19 disease in the Pakistani population leading to associated mental health issues. There’s a dire need for detailed research and proper awareness campaigns through different platforms
about long-covid and medical treatment to avoid further health and psychological problems.