Post-COVID condition: a focus on psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses in patients with cognitive complaints.

Publication date: Nov 11, 2024

Cognitive and psychiatric symptoms are frequently reported after SARS-CoV-2 infection, but their interplay has been only partially explored. We investigated frequency and severity of psychiatric symptoms in patients with persistent cognitive complaints after COVID-19. We conducted a cross-sectional study. Neurologists assessed 101 patients reporting cognitive symptoms after COVID-19. Patients were invited to fill a screening battery with self-reported psychometric scales (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Insomnia Severity Index). Patients scoring above validated cut-offs in ≥1 scale were referred to psychiatrists who administered the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M. I.N. I.), Hamilton Anxiety (HAM-A), and Hamilton Depression (HAM-D) rating scales and asked to complete the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Form (PID-5-BF). Out of the 57 referred patients, 38 (64. 4%) accepted to undergo the psychiatric examination. Among these, 18 (47. 4%) were diagnosed with adjustment disorder (23. 7%), anxiety disorder (10. 5%), major depressive disorder (7. 9%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (2. 6%). Pharmacologic treatment before post-COVID condition (present in 12 patients, 31. 6%) was associated with a score above cut-off on the HAM-A and HAM-D scales. A longer duration of untreated psychiatric illness after COVID-19 was associated with worse scores on the same scales. Patients with a higher PID-5-BF total score had a higher probability of receiving a psychiatric diagnosis. Almost half of patients with post-COVID-19 conditions reporting cognitive symptoms were found to suffer from a psychiatric condition after psychiatric evaluation. The application of a psychiatric screening in a population suffering from long-term effects of COVID-19 can lead to early diagnosis and timely treatment.

Concepts Keywords
Covid adjustment disorder
Psychiatrists cognitive deficit
Traumatic COVID-19
Post-COVID condition
psychiatric symptoms
screening test

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH Post-COVID condition
disease MESH SARS-CoV-2 infection
pathway REACTOME SARS-CoV-2 Infection
disease MESH Depression
disease MESH Anxiety
disease MESH Insomnia
drug DRUGBANK Phenindione
disease MESH adjustment disorder
disease MESH anxiety disorder
disease MESH major depressive disorder
disease MESH post-traumatic stress disorder
disease MESH psychiatric illness

Original Article

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