Researchers at Oxford University have claimed that most Coronavirus patients suffer from neurological and psychiatric disorders six months after being diagnosed with the viral infection.
According to a study titled “Neurological and Psychiatric Outcomes in COVID-19 Survivors” published recently in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, 1 out of 3 Coronavirus patients develop neurological or psychiatric disorders during the six months after the diagnosis of COVID-19.
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Over the course of the study, Oxford University researchers in collaboration with TriNetX, a global health research network for healthcare organizations, analyzed the electronic health records of over 236,000 Coronavirus patients who were diagnosed between 20 January 2020 and 31 December 2020.
The researchers found that 34% of the COVID-19 survivors experienced intracranial hemorrhage, ischaemic stroke, parkinsonism, Guillain-Barré syndrome, nerve, nerve root, and plexus disorders, myoneural junction and muscle disease, encephalitis, dementia, psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders (grouped separately), substance use disorder, and insomnia within six months after the initial diagnosis.
Maxime Taquet, Professor at Oxford University’s Department of Psychiatry and lead investigator of the study, has said neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders are more common after COVID-19 than after flu or other respiratory infections.
He feared the Coronavirus pandemic could engender a wave of neurological and psychiatric problems around the world.
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A similar study published in November last year had claimed that 1 out of 5 or 20% of Coronavirus patients develop psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and dementia during the first 14 to 90 days after the diagnosis of COVID-19.
The study also claimed that people with a pre-existing mental illness are 65% more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than those without.
