Decline in mental health, year after SARS

TORONTO, June 26 (UPI) -- Most Canadian patients who survived severe acute respiratory syndrome recovered physically, but they often had a mental-health decline a year later.

SARS became a global epidemic in 2003. Most cases were in Asia, but the largest concentration of North American cases occurred in Toronto, according to Catherine M. Tansey of the city's University Health Network.

All but one patient had chest X-rays demonstrating normal or pre-SARS condition after one year. At three months, 31 percent of the survivors had a reduced six-minute walk distance; at one year, 18 percent did. For most, lung capacity measures and the lung's ability to exchange respiratory gases were within normal limits at three months.

However, one year after discharge from hospital, health-related quality of life remained lower than in the general population, and patients reported significant declines in mental health.

Caregiver surveys showed a decline in the mental health of caregivers, which was caused by reported lifestyle interference and loss of control, according to the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.