Anxiety and depression symptoms after COVID-19 infection: results from the COVID Symptom Study app

TY - JOUR

T1 - Anxiety and depression symptoms after COVID-19 infection

T2 - results from the COVID Symptom Study app

AU - Klaser, Kerstin

AU - Thompson, Ellen J

AU - Nguyen, Long H

AU - Sudre, Carole H

AU - Antonelli, Michela

AU - Murray, Benjamin

AU - Canas, Liane S

AU - Molteni, Erika

AU - Graham, Mark S

AU - Kerfoot, Eric

AU - Chen, Liyuan

AU - Deng, Jie

AU - May, Anna

AU - Hu, Christina

AU - Guest, Andy

AU - Selvachandran, Somesh

AU - Drew, David A

AU - Modat, Marc

AU - Chan, Andrew T

AU - Wolf, Jonathan

AU - Spector, Tim D

AU - Hammers, Alexander

AU - Duncan, Emma L

AU - Ourselin, Sebastien

AU - Steves, Claire J

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

PY - 2021/11/16

Y1 - 2021/11/16

N2 - BACKGROUND: Mental health issues have been reported after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, comparison to prevalence in uninfected individuals and contribution from common risk factors (eg, obesity and comorbidities) have not been examined. We identified how COVID-19 relates to mental health in the large community-based COVID Symptom Study. METHODS: We assessed anxiety and depression symptoms using two validated questionnaires in 413148 individuals between February and April 2021; 26998 had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. We adjusted for physical and mental prepandemic comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), age and sex. FINDINGS: Overall, 26.4% of participants met screening criteria for general anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression were slightly more prevalent in previously SARS-CoV-2-positive (30.4%) vs SARS-CoV-2-negative (26.1%) individuals. This association was small compared with the effect of an unhealthy BMI and the presence of other comorbidities, and not evident in younger participants (≤40 years). Findings were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses. Association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression was stronger in individuals with recent (<30 days) versus more distant (>120 days) infection, suggesting a short-term effect. INTERPRETATION: A small association was identified between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression symptoms. The proportion meeting criteria for self-reported anxiety and depression disorders is only slightly higher than prepandemic.

AB - BACKGROUND: Mental health issues have been reported after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, comparison to prevalence in uninfected individuals and contribution from common risk factors (eg, obesity and comorbidities) have not been examined. We identified how COVID-19 relates to mental health in the large community-based COVID Symptom Study. METHODS: We assessed anxiety and depression symptoms using two validated questionnaires in 413148 individuals between February and April 2021; 26998 had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. We adjusted for physical and mental prepandemic comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), age and sex. FINDINGS: Overall, 26.4% of participants met screening criteria for general anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression were slightly more prevalent in previously SARS-CoV-2-positive (30.4%) vs SARS-CoV-2-negative (26.1%) individuals. This association was small compared with the effect of an unhealthy BMI and the presence of other comorbidities, and not evident in younger participants (≤40 years). Findings were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses. Association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression was stronger in individuals with recent (<30 days) versus more distant (>120 days) infection, suggesting a short-term effect. INTERPRETATION: A small association was identified between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression symptoms. The proportion meeting criteria for self-reported anxiety and depression disorders is only slightly higher than prepandemic.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85120498772

U2 - 10.1101/2021.07.07.21260137

DO - 10.1101/2021.07.07.21260137

M3 - Article

C2 - 34268526

SN - 0022-3050

VL - 92

SP - 1254

EP - 1258

JO - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry

JF - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry

IS - 12

ER -