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. 2022 Dec 28;20(1):494.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20010494.

What Is the Role of Psychological Factors in Long COVID Syndrome? Latent Class Analysis in a Sample of Patients Recovered from COVID-19

Giuseppe Craparo  1 , Valentina Lucia La Rosa  2 , Elena Commodari  2 , Graziella Marino  3 , Michela Vezzoli  4 , Palmira Faraci  1 , Carmelo Mario Vicario  5 , Gabriella Serena Cinà  6 , Morena Colombi  7 , Giuseppe Arcoleo  8 , Maria Severino  9 , Giulia Costanzo  1 , Alessio Gori  10 , Ernesto Mangiapane  9
Affiliations

What Is the Role of Psychological Factors in Long COVID Syndrome? Latent Class Analysis in a Sample of Patients Recovered from COVID-19

Giuseppe Craparo et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to identify clusters of long COVID-19 symptoms using latent class analysis and investigate the psychological factors involved in the onset of this syndrome. Method: Five hundred and six subjects recovering from COVID-19 completed a series of standardized questionnaires to evaluate the personality traits, alexithymia, and post-traumatic stress. Results: Five classes were identified: Brain fog (31.82%), No symptoms (20.95%), Sensory disorders (18.77%), Breath impairment (17.59%), and Multiple disorders (10.87%). Women reported post-COVID-19 respiratory symptoms and multiple disorders to a greater extent than men. Hospitalized subjects were more likely to report persistent symptoms after COVID-19 than asymptomatic or home-treated subjects. Antagonism, hyperarousal, and difficulty identifying emotions significantly predicted post COVID-19 symptoms. Conclusions: These findings open new questions for research on long COVID-19 and how states of emotional dysregulation can alter the physiological processes of the body and contribute to the onset of organic pathologies.

Keywords: COVID-19; emotional dysregulation; long COVID-19; trauma.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Composition of long COVID-19 symptoms in the latent classes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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