Long-term effects of COVID-19 on mental health: A systematic review.
J Affect Disord
; 299: 118-125, 2022 02 15.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1517308
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Acute effects of COVID-19 can be life-threatening. Alterations in mental health during the active infection have been documented, but the long-term consequences are less clear.METHOD:
A systematic review was undertaken to investigate the effect of COVID-19 infection on long-term mental health outcomes. Three databases [PubMed, Medline (Ovid) and Cochrane library] were searched between 1st October 2019 and 29th August 2021 with additional hand searching to identify all published studies reporting symptoms of generalised anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or sleep disturbance in participants at least one month after COVID-19 infection. The prevalence and mean symptom score of each were assessed.RESULTS:
Eight hundred and eighty five studies were found, of which 33 were included in the review involving a total of 6743 participants. The studies' risk of bias were typically fair quality. The median study age of participants was 57.8 years (IQR 49.3-60.7), with 63.0% male (IQR 57.0%-73.0%). Participants typically experienced no or mild symptoms of long-term anxiety (GAD-7, STAI-S, HADS) and depression (PHQ-9, BDI, PHQ-2, HADS). Prevalence varied depending on the measurement tool. Sleep disturbances (primarily insomnia) were most commonly reported as mild. PTSD prevalence was similar to anxiety and depression.CONCLUSION:
The overall effect of the pandemic has been linked with worsening psychiatric symptoms. However, the long-term effect from direct COVID-19 infection has been associated with no or mild symptoms. Studies exhibited the long-term prevalence of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and sleep disturbances to be comparable to general population levels.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Mental Health
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
J Affect Disord
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.jad.2021.11.031
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