Covid survivors suffer mental health and neurological disorder up to 2 years after getting infected: Study

People with a history of COVID-19 infection face increased risks of developing some neurological and psychiatric conditions up to two years post-infection, suggests an observational study of over 1.25 million patient health records published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.

One in three COVID-19 survivors suffers from mental health or neurological disorders like anxiety and dementia six months after their infection. This is causing concern that there will be a new wave of neurological problems post-COVID, said Professor Paul Harrison, from the University of Oxford, UK.

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The possibility of most neurological and psychiatric diagnoses after Covid was lower in children than in adults, and they were not at greater risk of anxiety or depression than children who had other respiratory infections.

The study also highlights the need for more research to understand why this happens after COVID-19, and what can be done to prevent or treat these conditions. The study analysed data on 14 neurological and psychiatric diagnoses gathered from electronic health records mostly from the US over a two-year period. Of those with health records in the US-based TriNetX network, 1,284,437 people had a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection on or after January 20, 2020, and were included in the study: 185,748 children, 856,588 adults between 18 and 64 years old, and 242,101 adults over 65.

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Little change was observed in the risks of neurological and psychiatric diagnoses six months post COVID-19 just before and just after the emergence of the Alpha variant. However, the emergence of the Delta variant was associated with significantly higher six-month risks of anxiety, cognitive deficit, epilepsy or seizures, and ischaemic strokes but a lower risk of dementia when compared to those diagnosed with COVID-19 just before the Delta wave. The risks during the Omicron wave were similar to those when Delta was the dominant variant.

Adults aged 18-64 who had COVID-19 up to two years previously had a higher risk of cognitive deficit, or 'brain fog', and muscle disease, compared to those who had other respiratory infections up to two years previously. In adults aged 65 and over who had COVID-19 up to two years previously, there was a higher occurrence of 'brain fog', dementia and psychotic disorder compared to those who previously had a different respiratory infection.