text: Mid term Psychiatric Outcomes of Patients Recovered From COVID 19 From an Italian Cohort of Hospitalized Patients b Background b Although the usual primary clinical manifestation of Coronavirus disease COVID 19 is respiratory several non respiratory symptoms have been described including neuropsychiatric ones The aim of this study was to investigate the mid term mental health outcomes in patients recovered from COVID 19 3 4 months after discharge from the University Hospital Maggiore della Carità Novara Italy Furthermore we investigated the possible association of the mid term mental health consequences of the COVID 19 infection with patients clinical current status persistent physical impairment and severity of acute phase of the disease b Methods b Prospective study involving 238 individuals recovered from COVID 19 In the context of a multi disciplinary approach patients assessment included both a clinical interview performed by an experienced psychiatrist trained in the use of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview to assess the presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and self administered questionnaires Beck Anxiety Inventory BAI Beck Depression Inventory II BDI II Resilience Scale for Adults RSA Impact of Event Scale IES b Results b At the psychiatric assessment 32 9 and 29 5 of participants showed anxiety and depressive symptoms respectively Changes in appetite and sleep patterns emerged for 15 6 and 31 2 of patients According to the self administered questionnaires 7 1 of participants had moderate severe anxiety levels BAI while 10 5 had mild to severe depression BDI II Twenty six 11 participants were referred to further psychiatric consultation Psychiatric symptoms showed no correlation with acute COVID 19 severity in our sample patients with depressive symptoms at the clinical interview as well as those with mild to severe levels of depression according to BDI II scores had lower forced expiratory volume in the 1st second FEV1 values than those without and greater odds for persistent poor tolerance for physical efforts b Conclusions b As could be expected an approach including both a psychiatric interview and the use of self administered questionnaires is likely to capture the psychiatric outcome of patients recovered from COVID 19 better than questionnaires alone Anxiety and depressive symptoms at follow up had no correlation with the severity of COVID acute manifestations but rather with ongoing and persistent physical symptoms Further studies and longer follow up duration will allow a better understanding of the complex relationship between residual physical symptoms quality of life and psychological health 