Anxiety in Home-Quarantined Patients with COVID-19

Abstract

One of the challenges of the current pandemic in Romania has been the monitoring of COVID-19 positive patients isolated at home by their family doctors. There was no legal framework or experience in remote medical consultations and there were no clear and comprehensive guidelines for therapeutic management at the beginning of this study. As the pandemic evolved, one of the problems identified from practical experience was that anxiety in this category of patients is an underestimated factor. The present study aimed to provide some clarifying data on the level, determinants, effects and methods of addressing anxiety in COVID-19 patients isolated at home. This approach started on a number of N = 107 patients to whom demographic data were collected and an anxiety questionnaire was applied by telephone. In the next stage, in order to obtain valid results in a timely manner, an online questionnaire was completed by 71 family physicians from Galati County, Romania. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was performed using Excel and SPSS software. The results showed that the level and importance of anxiety in these patients are underestimated and one of the key factors to avoid negative endings (delayed hospitalization or unjustified hospitalization) is the self-determination of peripheral oxygen saturation.