Depression Worsens Years After Covid Hospitalization, Study Says

(Bloomberg) -- Depression and cognitive symptoms worsen in the years following hospitalization for Covid-19, according to a new study into the long-term effects of the disease.

People who were admitted to hospital for a Covid-19 infection still experienced “substantial” symptoms years later, with new ones also emerging, researchers from several British universities found.

Almost half the patients in the study had moderate to severe depression, with a quarter reporting severe cognitive decline. Their depression, anxiety and fatigue all increased between the six-month mark and two to three years on.

The study of 475 patients found that one in four either worked less or stopped working. The main reason for this was poor health, with the reduced work most associated with cognitive deficit, said Maxime Taquet, a lecturer at the University of Oxford’s department of psychiatry and the study’s lead author.

The study only looked at cognitive and psychiatric symptoms and wasn’t explicitly investigating patients who had been diagnosed with long Covid, a condition associated with physical symptoms such as shortness of breath as well as cognitive ones.

An estimated two million people in England and Scotland are living with self-reported long Covid, with more than 380,000 people saying their ability to undertake day-to-day activities have been significantly limited by the condition. That’s a concern as the number of people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness is skyrocketing, costing the economy billions each year.

The severity of patients’ Covid-19 illness didn’t influence the symptoms they experienced several years later. However, researchers found that what did impact their symptoms down the line was how much progress they had made in their recovery at the six-month point.

While the study only looked at patients who were hospitalized, Paul Harrison, professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, said he suspects patients who aren’t admitted because of Covid might also suffer similar effects years later.