The Association of Hematological Inflammatory Markers and Psychological Function Among in COVID-19 Patients: a Cross Sectional Study

Background: Due to high inflammation and mental health disorders in Covid-19 patients, we aimed to investigate the relationship between blood inflammatory markers such as WBC, RDW, NLR and PLR and psychological function in COVID-19 patients. Method: The current cross-sectional study and psychological function and a complete blood count (CBC) were measured on 120 COVID-19 patients aged >30 years from the Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad, Iran. Depression, anxiety and stress of participants were evaluated using DASS questionnaire. Also Quality of life, insomnia and sleep quality were measured via SF-36, Insomnia Severity Index and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire, respectively. Result: No blood parameters were significantly associated with depression, sleep disorders and quality of life (P>0.05), but in MCHC, WBC and PLR anxiety showed a significant relationship (p<0.05). In the stress subgroup, only RPR was associated with stress (p<0.05). In linear regression between hematological parameters and psychological score indicated that RDW and PLR were significantly associated with depression (p=0.045 and 0.016 respectively) and anxiety scores (p=0.038 and 0.010 respectively). PLR was also associated with stress (p=0.012). Conclusion: This study showed a positive association between depression/anxiety/stress symptoms and levels of hematological inflammatory markers including PLR and RDW.