Depression remained a common problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. In some people, complaints of anxiety and chest pain due to depression increased and they had to visit the hospital more often than before. A recent study in the US found that in the first year of the epidemic, about 40 percent of patients had new or recurrent symptoms of depression. Researcher Heidi T. Mai of the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute said, 'These research findings are important. In the first year of the pandemic, we see the mental health of our patients being affected. "We know that this is a risk for heart patients, and if the pandemic causes people to become more depressed in the next few years, the number of heart patients could increase,".
During the period 4,633 patients were examined for depression. The pre-pandemic period was considered from March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020, while the period during the pandemic was considered from March 1, 2020 to April 20, 2021. Patients were divided into two groups—those who did not have or had recovered from depression, and those who remained depressed or became depressed. The study, presented during the American Heart Association's Virtual 2021 Scientific Sessions, reported that electronic health records recorded patients' access to emergency departments for treatment with complaints of nervousness and chest pain. Researchers found that people with depression had higher depression screening scores during the pandemic.
