Researchers at Britain's Oxford University found that people diagnosed with Covid-19 are at greater risk of developing a mental disorder. The research published in the Lancet Psychiatry Journal stated that the disorders were developed within the first 14 to 90 days of diagnosis among surviving patients.
More than 50 million cases of novel coronavirus have been recorded so far across the world. The virus also claimed the lives of over 1.29 million people infected with coronavirus worldwide. Researchers of the latest study arrived at the conclusion after examining electronic health records of 69 million people in the United States including over 62,000 cases of COVID-19.
Common Mental Disorders That Affect Covid-19 Patients:
Researchers of the study said they diagnosed anxiety, depression and insomnia in the most number of Covid-19 patients during their analysis. However, they also found that some patients were at higher risks of developing dementia — that affected around 50 million across the world. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and often comprise 60 percent to 70 percent of the total dementia cases.
"In patients with no previous psychiatric history, a diagnosis of Covid-19 was associated with increased incidence of a first psychiatric diagnosis in the following 14 to 90 days compared with six other health events," the study findings revealed.
Moreover, those with a pre-existing mental disorder were at 65 percent more risk of contracting Covid-19 compared to those without any psychiatric disorder. The researchers said that the findings confirmed common fears related to Covid-19 that it would affect the mental health of the patients.
"People have been worried that COVID-19 survivors will be at greater risk of mental health problems, and our findings ... show this to be likely," Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at Britain's Oxford University said, adding that healthcare experts across the world should urgently investigate the causes and come up with new treatments for the disorders post-Covid-19.
