The impact of SARS-CoV-2 transmission fear and COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders, severe asthma, and other high-risk groups

BackgroundThe adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of high-risk group patients for morbidity and mortality and its impact on public health in the long term have not been clearly determined. ObjectiveTo determine the level of COVID-19 related transmission fear and anxiety in healthcare workers and patients with primary immunodeficiency disorder (PID), severe asthma, and the ones with other comorbidities. MethodsThe healthcare workers and patients with PID, severe asthma (all patients receiving biological agent treatment), malignancy, cardiovascular disease, hypertension (90% of patients receiving ACEI or ARB therapy), diabetes mellitus (42 % of patients receiving DPP-4 inhibitor therapy) were included in the study. A total of 560 participants, 80 individuals in each group, were provided. The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and Fear of illness and virus evaluation (FIVE) scales were applied to the groups with face to face interview methods. ResultsThe mean age was 49.30 {+/-} 13.74 years and 306 (55 %) were female. The FIVE Scale and HADS-A scale scores of health care workers were significantly higher than other groups scores (p = 0.001 and 0.006). The second-highest scores belonged to patients with PID. There was no significant difference between the groups for the HADS-D score (p=0.07). The lowest score in all scales was observed in patients with hypertension. ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that in the pandemic process, patients with primary immunodeficiency, asthma patients, and other comorbid patients, especially healthcare workers, should be referred to the centers for the detection and treatment of mental health conditions.