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Mental Illness Incidence Increases After COVID-19, But Less So in Vaccinated Adults
Rates of most mental illnesses were higher over the 4 weeks after a COVID-19 diagnosis compared with before or without COVID-19, according to a cohort study that involved millions of adults in England. Researchers reported their findings in JAMA Psychiatry.
“This elevation was less marked in people who were vaccinated before COVID-19,” wrote corresponding author Jonathan Sterne, PhD, of the University of Bristol, Bristol, England, and study coauthors. “The findings support recommendation of COVID-19 vaccination in the general population and particularly among those with mental illness, who may be at higher risk of both SARS-CoV-2 infection and adverse outcomes following COVID-19.”
Related: Cognitive and Psychiatric Burden Substantial Up to 3 Years After Acute COVID-19
The study investigated the incidence of 8 mental illnesses after COVID-19 compared with before or without COVID-19. Specifically, the study looked at depression, serious mental illness, general anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, addiction, self-harm, and suicide in 3 English cohorts. A pre-vaccine availability cohort included 18.6 million adults followed from January 2020 through June 2021. A vaccinated cohort included 14 million adults followed from June 2021 through December 2021. Finally, an unvaccinated cohort included 3.2 million adults also followed from June 2021 through December 2021
For each cohort, the incidence of depression, serious mental illness, general anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, addiction, self-harm, and suicide was elevated during weeks 1 through 4 after COVID-19 diagnosis compared with before, or without, COVID-19, according to the study.
The vaccinated cohort, however, had a lower incidence of mental illnesses compared with the pre-vaccine availability and unvaccinated cohorts, the study showed. Over the 4 weeks after COVID-19 diagnosis, adjusted hazard ratios were 1.93 for depression and 1.49 for serious mental illness in the pre-vaccine availability cohort and 1.79 for depression and 1.45 for serious mental illness in the unvaccinated cohort. Meanwhile, the vaccinated cohort had adjusted hazard ratios of 1.16 for depression and 0.91 for serious mental illness.
The highest incidence elevations occurred after hospitalization for COVID-19.
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