A major study, supported by MQ, has found that five months after leaving hospital for COVID-19 treatment, 25% of people experienced significant symptoms of anxiety and depression, and 12% had symptoms of PTSD.
In addition, many patients, predominantly older men, reported an ongoing ‘brain fog’, which is reduced short-term memory and slowed thought.
The impact to the mental health on COVID-19 survivors is worrying, especially as it is against a backdrop of an already growing issue of mental illness in wider society.
“We have been facing a growing epidemic of mental illness, even before COVID-19 struck” says MQ’s CEO Lea Milligan. “This is now a second pandemic and we urgently need further research so we know the true impact and can develop better treatments.”
Professor Chris Brightling, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Leicester and the chief investigator for the PHOSP-COVID study, commented that these results highlight the need for post-COVID-19 care to include mental health services.
The UK wide PHOSP-COVID study analysed 1077 patients who were discharged from hospital between March and November following an episode of COVID-19.
The study found that mental health and cognitive abilities were not the only long-term negative health impact many survivors experienced.
The majority of people surveyed had not fully recovered from their physical symptoms five months after discharge, with some people experiencing issues so severe they were now considered to have a disability.
Importantly, the study found elevated levels of a systemic inflammation – C-reactive protein (CRP) - in all but the mildest of cases. Previous research has found that such autoimmunity, where the body has an immune response to its own healthy cells and organs, is more common in middle-aged women. This might explain why this group of people showed the most persistent ongoing symptoms.
Professor Chris Brightling, said: “While the profile of patients being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 is disproportionately male and from an ethnic minority background, our study finds that those who have the most severe prolonged symptoms tend to be white women aged approximately 40 to 60 who have at least two long term health conditions, such as asthma or diabetes.”
The results from the PHOSP-COVID study have been released as a pre-publication, which means that they have yet to be peer-reviewed. They follow the recent pre-publication of a survey into children who are suffering with Long COVID. The children’s study showed similar results, with long term mental and physical health problems in children as in these adults from the PHOSP-COVID study.
This children’s study was carried out internationally by researchers from Italy, Russia and Kings College London. It questioned the parents of 510 children and showed that up to 87% of children continued to show physical symptoms 8 months after infection, including tiredness, weakness and headaches. 54.7% of children reported three or more mental health conditions, a worrying statistic.
At MQ, we are investing into research to help understand the impact of COVID on some of the most vulnerable in society and to improve outcomes for those people.
Statistics from both of these studies show that COVID’s impact on the mental health of our society is significant. Our response must be equal to that, and that will require funding for multi-disciplinary and collaborative research into treatments, interventions and ways to improve people’s lives.
The link between COVID-19 and mental health will be a discussion topic at the MQ Science Summit on the 12th and 13th of May. To find out more about this virtual event and book a ticket please visit here.
