Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disproportionately affects African Americans, and they tend to experience more severe course and adverse outcomes. Using a simple and validated instrument of depression screening, we evaluated the incidence and severity of major depression among African American patients within 90 days of recovery from severe COVID-19-associated respiratory failure.
Conclusion: The incidence of depression in a cohort of African American patients without prior psychiatric conditions who recovered from severe COVID-19 infection was 44%. More than 70% of these patients were not receiving treatment for depression.