A new study has helped reveal the long-term mental health consequences of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, as well as new evidence of the protective effect of vaccination against COVID-19 to reduce this risk. Their findings have been published in Nature Human Behavior. The research has been carried out by an international team of scientists led by Junqing Xie, postdoctoral researcher in Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacogenetics at NDORMS at the University of Oxford.
Researchers have analyzed data from a population-based cohort from the UK Biobank and found an increased risk of psychiatric disorders and corresponding medication prescription among COVID-19 survivors, highlighting the additional mental health burden caused by the pandemic.
The objective of the study was to delve into previous studies that reported an increased risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders in individuals hospitalized or infected with COVID-19. Junqing commented: “However, these findings were biased towards patients who had sought COVID-19 testing in the first two years of the pandemic and did not take into account those with asymptomatic infection or new variants such as omicron.”
Increased risk of mental disorders in COVID survivors
To examine long-term mental health outcomes and the protective effect of vaccination, the cohort was divided into three groups: individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection (26,101 participants), contemporary controls without infection (380,337 participants), and historical controls prior to the pandemic (390,621 participants).
The results revealed that infected participants had a subsequent increased risk of developing several mental health disorders, including psychotic disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol use disorders, and sleep disturbances, with the risk being even higher for those who were hospitalized. cause of COVID-19. However, the risks were reduced in fully vaccinated individuals, possibly highlighting the protective effect of vaccination against the development of new psychiatric disorders and the progression of existing ones.
Participants who had been infected by the coronavirus were at higher risk of developing several mental health disorders, but the risks were reduced in fully vaccinated individuals
The research also indicated that infections despite vaccination, occurring in individuals who had received the two-dose primary vaccination, did not increase the risk of mental health diagnoses compared to vaccinated (uninfected) participants, but there were still signs of an increased risk for more psychotropic medications.
“Given the large number of COVID-19 survivors (so far about 700 million), the increase in the number of reinfections globally, together with the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and the population’s loss of interest in If booster doses are administered, the psychiatric disorders triggered by the infection could translate into a huge global mental health burden, in addition to others. Our study, therefore, underlines the need for policymakers and health systems to develop long-term priorities and strategies for the early identification and treatment of affected people, especially vulnerable survivors of COVID-19, to mitigate psychiatric disorders and improve post-pandemic well-being,” concludes Junqing.
