The usefulness of modified distress thermometer in screening adolescents with COVID‐19 for psychological distress: A prospective study

Background Children and adolescents are more vulnerable than other age groups to the psychosocial effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. The modified distress thermometer (m‐DT) was recently utilized for measuring the prevalence of psychological distress among adult COVID‐19 patients. In the current study, we aimed to test the utilization of this m‐DT in screening adolescent patients with COVID‐19 for psychological distress. Methods Egyptian adolescent subjects with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID‐19 at a University Hospital were enrolled. Binary logistic regression tests were conducted to explore the association between the m‐DT cutoff scores of 4 and the clinical variables. Results A total of 48% (87/182) of the study subjects experienced significant (m‐DT score ≥4) COVID‐19‐related distress. There were substantial differences between those with and without considerable distress regarding the length of quarantine, underlying medical disorders, and the presence of chronic respiratory conditions. Length of quarantine time, chronic respiratory disease, worry, and fever were independent factors associated with significant distress in COVID‐19 adolescent patients. Conclusions Almost half of the enrolled Egyptian adolescents with COVID‐19 experienced significant psychological distress. The m‐DT was helpful, as the current study had identified length of quarantine time, presence of chronic respiratory disease, worry, and fever as independent factors associated with significant distress in COVID‐19 adolescents. Further studies are needed.