Neurological and psychiatric risks after Covid infection? See the Lancet study

An observational study of more than 1.25 million patient health records published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal found that “increased risk of neurological and psychiatric conditions such as dementia and seizures is associated with other respiratory infections. By comparison, it’s still high two years after COVID-19.”

The increased risk of depression and anxiety in adults takes less than two months to return to rates comparable to those after other respiratory infections. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is growing evidence that survivors may be at increased risk for neurological and psychiatric conditions.

A previous observational study by the same research group reported that COVID-19 survivors are at increased risk for several neurological and mental health conditions in the first 6 months after infection.

However, until now, there have been no large-scale data examining the risk of these diagnoses over time.

Professor Paul said, “In addition to confirming previous findings that COVID-19 can increase the risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders in the first six months after infection, this study “It suggests that some of the increased risk could persist for at least two years.” From Harrison, University of Oxford, UK.

The study’s first author, Harrison, said: “It suggests that new cases of neurological disease associated with COVID-19 infection are likely to occur for quite some time after the pandemic subsides. The results have important implications for patients and healthcare services.”

The study also highlights the need for further research to understand why this happens after COVID-19 and what can be done to prevent or treat these conditions. In this study, primarily from the United States, he analyzed data on 14 neurological and psychiatric diagnoses collected from electronic medical records over a two-year period.

Of those with health records in the US-based TriNetX network, 1,284,437 with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection since January 20, 2020 were included in the study. 242,101 adults aged 65 and over.

These individuals were matched with an equal number of patients with another respiratory infection to serve as a control group.

Records of COVID-19 patients infected during different pandemic waves were also compared to explore the differential impact of alpha, delta, and omicron variants on the risk of neurological and psychiatric diagnoses.

People with a first diagnosis of COVID-19 within the period in which a particular variant was dominant were compared with an equal number of controls with a first diagnosis of COVID-19 during the period immediately preceding the appearance of that variant. did. .

In this study, for adults, the risk of being diagnosed with depression or anxiety initially increased after SARS-CoV-2 infection, but reverted to the same for other respiratory infections in a relatively short period of time. I understand.

After the initial increase, the risk of a diagnosis of depression or anxiety fell below that of controls. That is, after 2 years, there was no difference in the overall incidence of depression and anxiety between the COVID-19 and other respiratory disease groups. Infectious disease group.

However, at the end of 2 years of follow-up, the risk of several other neurological and mental health diagnoses was higher than other respiratory infections even after COVID-19.

Adults aged 18 to 64 years who have been infected with COVID-19 within the previous two years are more likely to have cognitive impairment, or “brain fog,” and muscle weakness than those who have had other respiratory infections within the previous two years. high risk of disease.

Adults over the age of 65 who had COVID-19 within 2 years had a higher incidence of “brain fog,” dementia, and psychotic disorders compared with those who had another previous respiratory infection. rice field.

The odds of neurological and psychiatric diagnoses after COVID-19 are lower in children than in adults, and the risk of anxiety and depression is no higher than in children with other respiratory infections. was.

However, like adults, children were more likely to be diagnosed with several conditions, such as seizures and psychiatric disorders, in the two years after COVID-19.

We found little change in the risk of neurological and psychiatric diagnoses 6 months after COVID-19 immediately before and after the appearance of the alpha variant.

However, the appearance of the delta variant was associated with a significantly higher 6-month risk of anxiety, cognitive impairment, epilepsy or seizures, and ischemic stroke, whereas the presence of COVID-19 just prior to the delta wave was associated with a significantly higher 6-month risk. The risk of dementia was lower when compared with those with

Risks during the Omicron wave were similar to those when delta was the dominant variant.

Dr Max Taket from the University of Oxford said: “The relatively high risk of depression and anxiety diagnoses post-COVID-19 has been relatively short-lived, and the increased risk of these diagnoses in children. The good news is that they haven’t.” analysis.

“But it is worrisome that other conditions such as dementia and seizures continue to be diagnosed more frequently after COVID-19, even two years later,” Taquet said.

(with input from PTI)

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