LONDON (Reuters) – One in three COVID-19 survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients was diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric illness within six months, suggesting the pandemic to a wave of mental illness and can lead to neurological problems, scientists said. on Tuesday.
Researchers who did the analysis said that it is not clear how the virus is linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that it is the most common diagnosis among the fourteen diseases.
The researchers were less likely to have COVID from stroke, dementia and other neurological disorders, but were still significant, especially in those who had severe COVID-19.
“Our results indicate that brain diseases and psychiatric disorders are more common after COVID-19 than after flu or other respiratory infections,” said Max Taquet, a psychiatrist at Oxford University in the UK.
The study was not able to determine the biological or psychological mechanisms involved, but urgent investigation is needed to identify it “with a view to preventing or treating it”.
Health experts are increasingly concerned about evidence of higher risks for brain and mental health disorders among COVID-19 survivors. In a previous study by the same researchers last year, it was found that 20% of COVID-19 survivors were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within three months.
The new findings, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, analyzed the health records of 236,379 COVID-19 patients, mostly from the United States, and found that 34% were diagnosed with neurological or psychiatric illnesses within six months.
The disorders were significantly more common in COVID-19 patients than in comparison groups of people who recovered from flu or other respiratory infections over the same period, the scientists said, suggesting that COVID-19 had a specific impact.
Anxiety, with 17%, and mood disorders, with 14%, were the most common, and do not appear to be related to how mild or severe the patient’s COVID-19 infection was.
However, among those admitted to intensive care with severe COVID-19, 7% had a stroke within six months, and nearly 2% were diagnosed with dementia.
“Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the entire population can be significant,” said Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at Oxford who led the work.
Reporting by Kate Kelland, Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise