COVID-19: 1 in 3 Diagnosed With Brain or Mental Health Condition

Using the health records of more than 236,000 U.S. patients, researchers have estimated the risks of developing neurological and psychiatric ailments in the six months after a COVID-19 diagnosis, reports Health News Today . According to the study in The Lancet Psychiatry , participants had received COVID-19 diagnoses between Jan. 20 and Dec. 13, 2020, and the overall incidence of neurological or mental health diagnoses was 34 percent. In the six months post-diagnosis, 13 percent received their first diagnosis of a neurological or psychiatric condition, with anxiety, mood, substance misuse, and insomnia the most common disorders. Neurological disorders occurred with less frequency, with 2.1 percent of participants experiencing an ischemic stroke, 0.7 percent developing dementia, and 0.6 percent suffering a brain hemorrhage. Patients who experienced more severe COVID-19 had a greater risk of mental health and neurological diagnoses. Subjects who experienced delirium or encephalopathy during their illnesses had the highest overall risk during the following six months (62 percent). "The study cannot reveal the mechanisms involved but does point to the need for urgent research to identify these, with a view to preventing or treating them," said the University of Oxford's Maxime Taquet.