Psychiatric aspect of persistent somatic symptoms after COVID-19: A systematic review

Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) represent a prevalent phenomenon frequently co-occurring with mental disorders and a higher incidence of depression and anxiety. There is no clear etiopathophysiology of PSS, which makes the diagnosis process difficult. The prevalence of PSS has been observed to rise in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 72.5% of post-COVID-19 patients experiencing persistent symptoms. This condition is predicted to become a public health problem in the future, and researchers need to conduct research on the relationship between the post-COVID-19 condition and PSS to provide comprehensive treatment suggestions. In this study, we tried to investigate and summarize various studies related to PSS after COVID-19, which are discussed from a psychiatric perspective. Three databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, were used to conduct a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria. The current search was performed from July to August 2023 by combining the keywords. 21 articles were analyzed descriptively to help describe and summarize the data constructively. The results showed that several studies investigated the prevalence of this case, and all studies that included prevalence information showed that majority of those who recovered from COVID-19 have reported experiencing PSS. Thus, persistent somatic symptoms after COVID-19 are associated with psychiatric problems; this condition requires a multidisciplinary approach to provide appropriate management.