Self-reported measure of subjective distress in response to COVID-19 pandemic in patients referred to our skin cancer unit during the first wave

Abstract

During the Italian first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, social restrictions and bad news spread daily by mass media inevitably had a huge influence on the mental state of the population. To assess how much the COVID-19 outbreak impacted the psychologic state of patients referring to our Skin Cancer Unit from March 9 to May 31, 2020, we administered to them a self-report questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). To evaluate the trend of the IES-R score over time, we set a temporal cutoff of March 27 (the day with the highest number of deaths for COVID-19 in Italy during the first wave). Three hundred fifty-five patients completed the questionnaire, reporting an average IES-R score of 25.5 (±16.4); 32.4% of participants reached a total IES-R score >32. Patients who visited after March 27, 2020 reported a higher psychologic impact, since the IES-R score significantly increased from 23.6 (±15.6) to 28.3 (±17.2). A group reported higher scores (of participants reaching an IES-R score >32, 57.4% were women and 33.9% were men). We gathered that, at an early stage of events of this magnitude, it could be useful to submit the IES-R questionnaire in high-risk and oncologic patients: we could potentially identify individuals at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorders, who might be tempted to postpone necessary medical consultations. This could be also the basis for increasing targeted psychologic support in selected patients.