To evaluate the effects of disease severity, corticosteroids and social factors on neuropsychiatric complaints in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients, both during acute and convalescent phases.

Self-administered mail questionnaires survey to 308 SARS patients after discharging from hospital. Both patients and their families were asked about symptoms related to various neuropsychiatric domains, and the questions covered both acute and convalescent phases.

Among the 102 (33%) valid replies, 65% had strong symptoms in convalescent phase as indicated by GHQ28 score ≥ 5. In multiple linear regression analysis, use of pulse steroid and total dosages of pulse steroid during hospitalisation were predictive for anxiety-depression, psychosis and behavioural symptoms in acute phase, the effects persisted in convalescent phase. Disease severity had direct correlation with symptoms in all neuropsychiatric domains at acute phase and anxiety-depression and cognition at convalescent phase. Health care workers had more neuropsychiatric complaints in both phases. Severity of symptoms, corticosteroids and social factors explained about half of the variances (R2 = 52) in anxiety-depression at acute phase and 33% at convalescent phase.

Severe disease, high dose corticosteroids and being health care workers were independent predictors of neuropsychiatric complaints in both acute and convalescent phases.