A massive study conducted during the pandemic estimates 1 in 3 COVID-19 survivors were diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition within six months of infection.
The study, published Tuesday in peer-reviewed journal The Lancet Psychiatry, used more than 230,000 electronic health records of COVID-19 patients, mostly in the U.S. examining 14 different brain and mental health disorders.
Thirty-four percent of the survivors were diagnosed with at least one of these conditions, with 13% of these people being their first neurological or psychiatric diagnosis. Mental health diagnoses were most common in patients, with 17% diagnosed with anxiety and 14% with a mood disorder.
Although neurological diagnoses were more uncommon, they were more common in patients who were seriously ill during a COVID-19 infection. For example, 7% of patients admitted to intensive care had stroke and 2% with dementia.
“It shows that the toll that COVID takes is not only with the (disease itself), but also with the aftermath of the condition, which can be extremely complicated and not only the brain but also other organs in the body, “the dr. William Li, president and medical director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of abnormal vascular growth.
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Study authors also looked at approximately 100,000 influenza patients and more than 230,000 patients diagnosed with an airway infection during the same period and found that neurological and psychiatric diagnoses were more common in COVID-19 patients.
There was a 44% greater risk for brain or mental health diagnoses after COVID-19 than after flu, and a 16% greater risk than for respiratory infections, according to the study.
It is possible that coronavirus infection can lead to anxiety or depression, as these conditions are related to inflammation commonly seen in COVID-19, said Julie Walsh-Messinger, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Dayton. But these psychiatric disorders can also result from the stress of the pandemic itself.
“We are seeing higher doses of depression and anxiety across the board, whether (COVID-19 infection) or not,” she said. ‘It’s hard to bother apart how much of it is general stress-induced anxiety or depression due to a lack of social ability, a lack of ability to participate in activities you normally enjoy, fear of the future and how much of it is specific the disease progresses. ”
Yet the study is an important first step in what clinicians can expect from their patients recovering from COVID-19, she added.
The scope of the study also shows how the long-term effects of COVID-19 can affect a country’s healthcare system, even after the disease has disappeared, said lead author Paul Harrison, a professor at Oxford University in the UK. said.
“Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the impact on the whole population for health and social care systems can be significant due to the scale of the pandemic,” he said. “Healthcare systems must be provided to meet the expected need.”
And because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 60,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, the need for health care after COVID-19 infection may increase, says Noah Greenspan, a cardiopulmonary physiotherapist and founder of the Pulmonary Wellness Foundation. in New York City.
“Even if we were to shut down the valve at the moment and no one would ever become infected with COVID, there are still whole groups of people who have been affected,” he said. “It’s like there was a fire in our house, and even if the fire is out and we have no new damage, we have to deal with this progression of symptoms that people have been experiencing for years.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID: 1 in 3 survivors diagnosed with brain, mental health disorder