London: According to many research analysts, people infected with coronavirus might experience mental problems while being hospitalized and possibly after getting recovered as well. This has come as a warning to the global population.
The systematic review, published in the journal ‘The Lancet Psychiatry’, encompassed results from short- and long-term studies of patients hospitalised by recent coronaviruses, namely SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2002-2004, MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) in 2012, as well as the current threat, Covid-19.
The study found that every one in four patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 may experience delirium during their illness, a condition prominent among hospitalized people, which can increase the risk of death or extend their duration of stay in the hospital. The post-recovery effects of COVID-19 aren’t known as of now, hence, the long-term risks such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic fatigue, depression, and anxiety are based on SARS and MERS studies, which may or may not be seen in patients with COVID-19.
“Our analysis focuses on potential mental health risks of being hospitalised with a coronavirus infection, and how psychiatric conditions could worsen the prognosis or hold people back from returning to their normal lives after recovering,” said study co-lead author Dr Jonathan Rogers from University College London in the UK.
The research team analyzed 65 peer-reviewed studies and seven recent pre-prints that are on-hold for the peer review, which included data from over 3,500 people who have had atleast one of the three illnesses which are of the same family of virus.
This review only took into account the people who were hospitalized and not those with milder cases and symptoms. The findings include both acute symptoms during the illness and long-term outcomes which persisted for two months to 12 years. Almost one in three people hospitalized with SARS or MERS went on to develop PTSD, at an average follow-up time of almost three years, more so, if they were already dealing with other health conditions.
Rates of depression and anxiety had also gone high, at roughly 15 per cent per year or longer after the recovery of the illness, with a further 15 per cent also experiencing some symptoms of depression and anxiety without a clinical diagnosis. More than 15 per cent also felt chronic fatigue, mood swings, sleep disorder (insomnia) or impaired concentration and memory. A noteworthy number of patients with coronavirus infection also experienced symptoms of delirium like confusion, hallucinations, agitation and altered consciousness.
Almost 28 per cent of people hospitalised for SARS and MERS experienced confusion, and early evidence from the ongoing pandemic suggests that delirium could be similarly common in COVID-19 patients. “We need more research on how to prevent mental health problems in the long term,” the researchers noted
