NEUROLOGICAL conditions, such as stroke and dementia, occurred less often but were more common among people with severe Covid-19.
The overall effect of these disorders, many of which are chronic, may be substantial for health and social care systems due to the scale of the pandemic.
From the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been concerns that survivors may have an increased risk of neurological and mental health conditions.
Initially, these concerns were based on past experienceTrusted Source with other coronaviruses, but suspected cases linked with Covid-19 soon followed.
There was also early evidence that the illness can affect the central nervous system.
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In November 2020, an observational studyTrusted Source from scientists at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, reported that survivors had a greater risk of developing mood and anxiety disorders in the 3 months after receiving a Covid-19 diagnosis.
The same researchers have now used the health records of more than 236,000 patients in the U.S. to estimate the risks of developing neurological and psychiatric conditions in the 6 months after a Covid-19 diagnosis.
Participants had received Covid-19 diagnoses between January 20 and December 13, 2020.
The researchers estimatethat the overall incidence of neurological or mental health diagnoses was 34%.
In the 6 months after their Covid-19 diagnoses, 13% of the participants received their first diagnosis of a neurological or psychiatric condition.
The most common diagnoses were anxiety disorders, in 17% of all the participants, mood disorders, in 14%, substance misuse disorders, in 7%, and insomnia, in 5%.
The incidence of neurological disorders was lower — 2.1% of all the participants experienced an ischemic stroke, 0.7% developed dementia, and 0.6% developed a brain hemorrhage.
This new study has been published in The Lancet PsychiatryTrusted Source. Those who experienced more severe Covid-19 had a greater risk of mental health and neurological diagnoses.
