MONDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- Survivors of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 regained much of their physical health within a year of hospitalization, but showed significant mental stress from being isolated and stigmatized by the unknown disease, according to the results of a study published in the June 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Catherine M. Tansey, M.Sc., of the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, and colleagues evaluated 117 SARS survivors in a prospective and observational study to determine one-year outcomes of patients and the effects on their informal caregivers. SARS survivors, 67 percent of whom were women with a median age of 42, were interviewed and given a physical exam at three-, six- and 12-month intervals after discharge while caregivers were surveyed at one year on the personal impact of caring for someone with SARS.
The Canadian researchers found that 37 percent of the SARS patients who underwent acute care hospitalization were still reporting such physical health symptoms as fatigue, shortness of breath and inability to sleep one year after discharge, and 33 percent showed significant mental distress from the stigma of having the disease. Caregivers didn't suffer physically but reported high emotional stress and isolation from caring for a family member with SARS. The results point to the need for effective public health strategies to help people cope with epidemics, the study notes.
"Early on in the SARS outbreak, the mode of transmission of the disease was unknown, and all person-to-person contact was minimized," the authors write. "However, some patients reported that health care workers insisted on spending time with and giving emotional support to them, and this helped to ameliorate their feelings of fear, anxiety and isolation."
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