Imagine your dentist doing that for a cavity.
Dentist: "Do you feel a hole in your tooth with your tongue?"
Patient: "Yes".
Dentist: "How large is it?"
Patient: "Feels really big".
Dentist: "Well, I'm afraid that one's got to come out".
For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, the team looked data from eight waves of surveys conducted between June 2020 and January 2021.
Respondents were narrowed down to 3,904 individuals who said they had been infected with COVID-19 in the past but had since recovered.
They were asked to rank how severe their illness was and if they had any persistent symptoms since testing negative.
All of the participants filled out the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ-9), which is a diagnostic instrument used to diagnose mood disorders such as depression.
Patients are asked about their mood or behavior over the last two weeks including whether they've had 'little interest or pleasure in doing things' or have been 'feeling down, depressed, or hopeless.'
Those filling out the survey can choose one of the following 'not at all,' 'several days,' 'more than half the days,' or 'nearly every day,' which are scored from zero to three.
On a scale of zero to 27, people who scored 10 or greater are considered to be moderately or severely depressed.
Of the participants, 2,046, or 52.4 percent, scored high enough to be considered to have symptoms of major depression.
