Two new studies add to the growing body of literature on the lasting effects of long COVID. In the first, a study of 114 patients with long COVID in Israel, researchers found high rates of depressive disorders (46%), generalized anxiety disorders (21%), sleep disturbances (76%), and reported cognitive changes (95%) among those diagnosed with the condition.
In a second study, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers find that the prevalence of long COVID-19 in the US population in 2021 was 29.9%, and 77.2% of those with long COVID had not returned to pre-COVID health within 8 to 60 weeks after infection.
The first study, published in BMC Infectious Diseases, was an online survey given to long COVID patients composed of several established questionnaires, including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) for psychological distress, the Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) questionnaire for cognitive decline, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep disorders.
The participants had an average age of 44 years, and 29 were men (25.4%) and 85 were women (74.6%).
The high rates of sleep disturbances and cognitive changes, including brain fog and memory loss, were the most significant findings. Social support negatively correlated with psychological distress, with those who reported more social isolation during their long COVID illness having worse mental health outcomes.
“Personality traits and social support were found to modulate symptom severity, with conscientiousness and social support appearing to confer protective effects, while neuroticism was associated with greater risk,” the authors said. “These findings highlight the potential for psychological interventions to alleviate distress in Long COVID patients.”
More than 75% of patients did not return to health
The second study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, used data collected in 2021 to assess long COVID prevalence. Notably, the authors found 30% of those infected with COVID-19 in the pre-Delta period (March to December 2020) developed long COVID, or post-COVID Condition (PCC).
Among those, 3 out of every 4 patients did not return to prior health within 60 weeks of initial infection.
Certain symptom clusters were associated with not returning to pre-COVID health, including respiratory problems, gastrointestinal symptoms, and chronic fatigue syndrome-like symptoms.
Understanding PCC symptom clustering may provide insight into pathophysiology.
“Understanding PCC symptom clustering may provide insight into pathophysiology, severity of PCC, and management for patients who have not returned to their usual state of health after SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the authors concluded.
