{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,18]],"date-time":"2026-07-18T01:53:30Z","timestamp":1784339610710,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]],"date-time":"2023-05-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1684368000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Anxiety has been increasingly recognized as part of the psychosocial health issues in COVID-19 patients. However, the impact of this topic may be underestimated in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of and risk factors of anxiety in COVID-19 patients compared to controls in a local tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this case\u2013control study, we analyzed data on adult patients aged 18\u2009years and above hospitalized for COVID-19 infection with matched hospitalized controls. The demographic, clinical data and anxiety measures using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>86.6% in the COVID-19 group had anxiety, significantly higher than 13.4% in the control group (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.001). The COVID-19 group was significantly associated with the GAD-7 severity (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.001). The number of COVID-19 patients in the mild, moderate, and severe anxiety groups was 48 (84.2%), 37 (86%), and 18 (94.7%), respectively. Multiple logistic regression showed significant predictors for anxiety, including COVID-19 diagnosis and neurological symptoms. Anxiety was found 36.92 times higher in the patients with COVID-19 compared to those without COVID-19 (OR 36.92;95% CI 17.09, 79.78, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.001). Patients with neurological symptoms were at risk of having anxiety (OR 2.94; 95% CI 1.03, 8.41, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.044).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>COVID-19 patients experience a significant disruption in psychosocial functioning due to hospitalization. The burden of anxiety is notably high, compounded by a diagnosis of COVID-19 itself and neurological symptomatology. Early psychiatric referrals are warranted for patients at risk of developing anxiety symptoms.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2023.1148019","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]],"date-time":"2023-05-18T07:39:50Z","timestamp":1684395590000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Anxiety among hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a case\u2013control study from a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Hui Jan","family":"Tan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdool Alleem Hj","family":"Shahren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ching Soong","family":"Khoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chen Fei","family":"Ng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wan Asyraf Wan","family":"Zaidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Najma","family":"Kori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Petrick","family":"Periyasamy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Choon Leng","family":"Eu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alvin Oliver","family":"Payus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rozita","family":"Hod","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"703838","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.703838","article-title":"Mental health in COVID-19 pandemic: a meta-review of prevalence Meta-analyses","volume":"12","author":"de Sousa","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Psychol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0238416","article-title":"Anxiety and depressive symptoms among COVID-19 patients in Jianghan Fangcang shelter Hospital in Wuhan, China","volume":"15","author":"Dai","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS 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