The study investigates the long-term psychological effects of long COVID

In a recent study posted on medRxiv* Preprint server, researchers evaluated the long-standing psychological symptoms of long coronavirus disease (long COVID).

Background

Persistence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) symptoms that develops during or after acute COVID 2019 (COVID-19) and cannot be explained by alternative diagnosis is known as long COVID. It is estimated that nearly 10% of SARS-CoV-2 patients are affected by long COVID after 12 weeks of initial infection, and most people experience symptoms for up to 6 months.

Long-term psychological effects of COVID-19, such as anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, and stress, are becoming more widely recognized, as evidenced by the accumulation of research data. On the other hand, the development of psychological state and long-term dynamics after SARS-CoV-2 infection remain unclear.

About research

In this study, scientists investigated the timing of the first episode of psychological symptoms following COVID-19 and the prolonged pattern of psychological symptoms between the short and long COVID groups. The team evaluated longitudinal data from the University College London (UCL) SARS-CoV-2 social survey conducted between March 2020 and November 2021.

The current study covered details of 3,115 UK residents aged 18 and over who were infected with COVID-19 in November 2021. Research volunteers participated through targeted recruitment and convenient sampling of vulnerable / underrepresented groups.

People with long COVIDs were matched against people with short COVIDs using various health, socioeconomic, and demographic covariates in propensity score matching (PSM). Depressive and anxiety symptoms were quantified using patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and generalized anxiety disorder 7 (GAD-7) assessments, respectively.

Post-COVID-19 experience from typical mental health problems during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was distinguished using growth curve modeling. Growth curve modeling explained the impact of social restrictions such as blockade and timing on mental health by monitoring people 10 months before SARS-CoV-2 infection and through follow-up periods of up to 22 months. ..

Results and discussion

The study results showed that of the 3,115 COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom in November 2021, 495 were consistent with 962 subjects with long COVIDs and short COVIDs, providing 13,324 observations. Was shown.

The short and long COVID cohorts increased depression and anxiety symptoms shortly after the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Peaks for both anxiety and depressive symptoms occurred within a week of the reported SARS-CoV-2 infection. This reasoning indicates that a rapid psychobiological mechanism was involved in the etiology of SARS-CoV-2 associated psychological distress in both short and long COVIDs.

Patients with short-term and long-term COVID were matched for psychiatric and physical comorbidity 10 months prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity of COVID-19 symptoms. The short and long COVID cohorts showed comparable trajectories of depressive and anxiety symptoms 10 months before SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, at the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection, depression levels in the long COVID cohort were significantly higher than those in the short COVID group. However, the level of anxiety did not differ significantly between the two cohorts. This reinforces the previous theory that the increase in depressive symptoms in the long COVID cohort was biologically stimulated by SARS-CoV-2 and was not due to a higher predisposition to mental distress during infection.

Similar patterns of improvement in COVID-related depressive symptoms over time were observed in the short and long COVID groups. Nevertheless, the level of depressive symptoms was higher in the long COVID group during the 22-month follow-up period than in the short COVID cohort and the data 10 months ago. In contrast, the depressive symptom level in the short COVID group fell below baseline within 4 months. The level of anxiety symptoms also did not improve in the long COVID cohort during the 22-month follow-up period, unlike the short COVID group. This shows that the disparity in mental distress between the two cohorts is widening.

Conclusion

According to the author, the current study was one of the longest and largest studies on the psychological experience of patients with long-term COVID.

The results of the study showed that anxiety and depressive symptoms increased shortly after the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection in both the short and long COVID cohorts. However, the long COVID cohort showed a significant early and increased level of depressive symptoms at 22 months of follow-up. On the contrary, the initial rise in anxiety was virtually indistinguishable between the two groups. Nevertheless, a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms at 22-month follow-up was only observed in the short COVID cohort compared to the long COVID group. This created a significant gap between the long COVID group and the short COVID group.

In summary, this study provides information on psychobiological processes that play a role in the emergence of psychological symptoms associated with long COVID. This study suggests that the first psychological experience after SARS-CoV-2 infection may be a possible predictor of long-term COVID. Current findings underscore the need to integrate mental health monitoring and appropriate psychological support with the treatment and diagnosis of the physical effects of long-term COVID.

*Important Notices

medRxiv publishes unpeer-reviewed preliminary scientific reports and should not be considered definitive, guide clinical / health-related behaviors, or be treated as established information.