Spursex
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- You are here: Research and innovation
08 April, 2021 By Steve Ford
A distressed young woman, possibly with long Covid
Source: Ingimage
There is a potential link between Covid-19 and subsequent mental health and neurological conditions, according to the largest study yet to look into the relationship.
It found one in three Covid-19 survivors received a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis within six months of infection with coronavirus, adding to growing evidence of so-called ‘long Covid’.
“These are real-world data from a large number of patients”
Paul Harrison
The observational study of more than 230,000 patient health records was published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal and looked at 14 neurological and mental health disorders.Paul Harrison
Anxiety and mood disorders were the most common conditions found among Covid-19 survivors, said the researchers.
They noted that, since the pandemic began last year, there had been growing concern that survivors might be at increased risk of neurological disorders.
A previous observational study by the same group reported that Covid-19 survivors were at increased risk of mood and anxiety disorders in the first three months after infection.
However, until now, there have been no large-scale data examining the risks of neurological as well as psychiatric diagnoses in the six months after Covid-19 infection.
The latest study involved data on 236,379 US Covid-19 patients. Those aged over 10 years who became infected after 20 January 2020 and were still alive on 13 December were analysed.
This group was compared with 105,579 patients diagnosed with influenza and 236,038 patients diagnosed with any respiratory tract infection, including influenza.
Overall, the estimated incidence of being diagnosed with a neurological or mental health disorder following Covid-19 infection was 34%.
“Sadly, many of the disorders identified in this study tend to be chronic or recurrent”
Jonathan Rogers
For 13% of these people, it was their first recorded neurological or psychiatric diagnosis, noted the researchers.Jonathan Rogers
The most common diagnoses after Covid-19 were anxiety disorders (in 17% of patients), mood disorders (14%), substance misuse disorders (7%), and insomnia (5%).
The incidence of neurological outcomes was lower, including 0.6% for brain haemorrhage, 2.1% for ischaemic stroke, and 0.7% for dementia.
According to the study authors, the risks of a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis were greatest in, but not limited to, patients who had severe Covid-19.
A neurological or psychiatric diagnosis occurred in 38% of those who had been admitted to hospital, 46% of those in intensive care, and 62% in those who had delirium during their Covid-19 infection.
The authors also looked at flu and other respiratory tract infections over the same period to help see whether the neurological and mental health complications were linked specifically to Covid-19.
After taking into account underlying characteristics, there was a 44% greater risk of neurological and mental health diagnoses after Covid-19 than after flu and 16% than with respiratory tract infections.
As a result, the authors suggested that Covid-19 does lead to a greater risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders than these other conditions.
“The effect across the whole population may be substantial for health and social care systems”
Paul Harrison
However, there was no clear evidence that Covid-19 led to an increased risk of parkinsonism or and Guillain-Barré syndrome.Paul Harrison
Lead study author Professor Paul Harrison, from the University of Oxford, said: “These are real-world data from a large number of patients.
“They confirm the high rates of psychiatric diagnoses after Covid-19, and show that serious disorders affecting the nervous system (such as stroke and dementia) occur too.
“While the latter are much rarer, they are significant, especially in those who had severe Covid-19,” said Professor Harrison.
“Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the whole population may be substantial for health and social care systems,” he noted.
“As a result, health care systems need to be resourced to deal with the anticipated need, both within primary and secondary care services,” he added.
Writing in a comment article, Dr Jonathan Rogers, from University College London, said: “Sadly, many of the disorders identified in this study tend to be chronic or recurrent, so we can anticipate that the impact of Covid-19 could be with us for many years.”