Neuropsychiatric sequelae are comparable for survivors of COVID-19 hospitalization, other severe acute respiratory infections<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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WEDNESDAY, May 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The neuropsychiatric sequelae are similar for severe COVID-19 infection and for other severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), according to a study published online May 11 in JAMA Psychiatry<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ashley Kieran Clift, M.B.B.S., from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues quantified the risks of new-onset neuropsychiatric conditions and new neuropsychiatric medication prescriptions after discharge from a COVID-19-related hospitalization and compared them with risks after discharge from hospitalization with other SARI among patients identified in databases from Jan. 24, 2020, to July 7, 2021.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 16,679 (0.02 percent) and 32,525 (0.03 percent) of the 8.38 million adults survived a hospital admission for SARI and COVID-19, respectively. Survivors of SARI and COVID-19 hospitalization had increased risks of subsequent neuropsychiatric disorders compared with the remaining population. The hazard ratios for anxiety were 1.86 and 2.36 for survivors of SARI and COVID-19 infection, respectively; the corresponding hazard ratios for dementia were 2.55 and 2.63. For all medications analyzed, the findings were similar; for example, the hazard ratios for first prescriptions of antidepressants were 2.55 and 3.24 for survivors of SARI and COVID-19, respectively. When directly comparing the COVID-19 group with the SARI group, there were no significant differences observed, apart from a lower risk of antipsychotic prescriptions in the COVID-19 group (hazard ratio, 0.80).<\/p>\n “These results may help refine our understanding of the postsevere COVID-19 phenotype and may inform postdischarge support for patients requiring hospital-based and intensive care for SARI regardless of causative pathogen,” the authors write.<\/p>\n