Background and Aims: Several research have examined the psychological effect of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on affected people. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on the persistence of this influence following recovery. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the mental and social health of Saudis who had recovered from COVID-19.
Methods: We carried out a quantitative cross-sectional study on adult Saudis who had recovered from laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. The authors created an electronic self-administered questionnaire for data collection. Participants were found using prominent social media channels in their respective regions.
Results: This study included 109 participants; some of them had recovered from an asymptomatic infection. Mental health was severely impacted in 7%, moderately impacted in 29%, and mildly impacted in 64% of the participants. Females, younger participants, and those who recovered from severe COVID-19 infection suffered a greater deterioration in mental health (r=0.209, p=0.038; r=-0.298, p=0.003; and r = 0.208, p = 0.004, respectively). Around 44% of the participants suffered from severe deterioration, 39% from moderate deterioration, and 17% from mild deterioration in their social health. Receiving any kind of support was correlated with better social health (r = 0.233, p = 0.016).
Conclusions: Saudi individuals who recovered from COVID-19 had some deteriorated mental and social health. However, a greater deterioration in social health was seen. Providing support to recovering COVID-19 patients appears to be helpful for returning to their normal social lives. Further multinational studies of larger scale are required to support our findings.
Key words: COVID-19, mental health, recover, social health, Saudi Arabia
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