The depressive state of COVID-19-free patients seen in a General Medicine Department before and during the outbreak

抄録

[Background] Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading globally and has brought psychological stress to the general population. This study aimed to evaluate the depressive state of non-affected patients in a general medicine outpatient unit before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. [Methods] This was a database study. A total of 454 patients who visited the general medicine department at one university hospital between January 2019 and January 2021 were enrolled. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). Dichotomous and continuous scores were compared before and during the COVID-19 period, with adjustments applied for age and sex. [Results] SDS scores were significantly higher for women and aged patients during the COVID19 period as compared to before. The logistic regression analysis showed that depressive state was correlated with visiting the hospital during the COVID-19 period (odds ratio and 95% confidence interval：1.56 [1.02 to 2.39]), with a SDS score increase of 2.39 (0.39 to 4.40). [Conclusions] Our study indicated that being in a depressive state was common to COVID-19- negative general medicine patients during the COVID-19 period.