Clinical characteristics, timing of hospital presentation and anxiety symptoms among hospitalized patients with acute Herpes zoster

Abstract

Background: Herpes zoster is an acute painful disease in which timely clinical assessment is important, but data on hospital presentation, pre-admission care, pain, and anxiety symptoms among hospitalized patients in Vietnam remain limited. Objectives: To describe clinical characteristics, timing of hospital presentation, and anxiety symptoms at admission, with exploratory analyses of factors related to presentation timing and GAD-7 scores. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional baseline analysis included 40 hospitalized patients with herpes zoster at Can Tho City Dermatology Hospital from July 2025 to April 2026. Clinical variables, pain using the 0-10 Numeric Rating Scale, and anxiety symptoms using the GAD-7 were assessed before in-hospital medication and cold atmospheric plasma. Results: The mean age was 61.90 ± 13.47 years, and 70.0% were female. Thirty-two patients (80.0%, 95% CI 65.2-89.5%) were admitted more than 3 days after rash onset. Pain was reported by 90.0%, and the mean pain score was 4.95 ± 2.14. The mean GAD-7 score was 6.68 ± 3.35, 12.5% had GAD-7 scores ≥10 and 72.5% scored ≥5. Pre-admission care differed by presentation timing (p<0.001). Exploratory analyses showed higher GAD-7 scores among patients aged <60 years and those admitted within 3 days, whereas pain and GAD-7 scores were not significantly correlated. Conclusions: Most patients in this hospital-based sample were admitted more than 3 days after rash onset. Pain was common, while moderate-or-greater anxiety symptom severity was present in a minority. The exploratory associations require confirmation in larger studies.