AccScience Publishing / JCBP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/JCBP025040007
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Psychological features and emotional well-being in COVID-19 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms

Kalliopi Megari1,2* ,  Dimitra V. Katsarou3 ,  Evangelos Mantsos4 ,  Soultana Papadopoulou5 ,  Efthymia Efthymiou6 ,  Alexandros Argyriadis7 ,  Eugenia I. Toki5 ,  Evanthia Thomaidou8
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1 Department of Psychology, CITY College, University of York Europe Campus, Thessaloniki, Greece
2 Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Western Macedonia, Florina, Greece
3 Department of Preschool Education Sciences and Educational Design, School of Humanities, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece
4 Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, School of Physical Education, Sport Science and Dietetics, University of Thessaly, Trikala, Greece
5 Department of Speech Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Dodoni, Greece
6 College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
7 Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
8 Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece
JCBP, 025040007 https://doi.org/10.36922/JCBP025040007
Received: 25 January 2025 | Revised: 19 April 2025 | Accepted: 9 May 2025 | Published online: 27 May 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

The prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in COVID-19 patients is more than 20%. Research has revealed that the incidence of GI symptoms, including anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, can be as high as 79.1%, and that diarrhea, as the main symptom, can be present in 49.5% of the cases. Among these patients, the psychological impact of various GI symptoms poses an essential consideration in the quality of life after hospital discharge and recovery. In this study, 102 patients hospitalized for COVID-19, with GI symptoms, were divided into two groups: The GI group (n = 54), with the predominant GI symptoms of anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, and the D group (n = 48), with the predominant symptom of diarrhea. Questionnaires assessing positive and negative moods, anxiety, and depression were administered to all patients, and psychological evaluation took place 3 months after the first positive polymerase chain reaction test for COVID-19. The results demonstrate that patients in the GI group exhibited lower scores in the negative mood, anxiety, and depression tests, and higher scores in the positive mood test, compared to the patients in the D group. In conclusion, emotions play an important role in the outcome of COVID-19 patients with different GI symptoms. Notably, diarrhea is an important symptom associated with negative mood, anxiety, and depression. Understanding the emotional impact of specific GI symptoms on COVID-19 patients is essential for developing a comprehensive approach to the care and well-being of COVID-19 patients.

Keywords
Psychological features
COVID-19 patients
Digestive system
Gastrointestinal effects
Diarrhea
Anxiety
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
Kalliopi Megari is the Youth Editorial Board Member of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing
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