- People with mental health disorders are about twice as likely to die from Covid than people without such disorders.
- The findings are based on a meta-analysis of 16 studies from seven countries.
- The researchers urge public health officials to prioritise people with mental illness as a neighbourhood of controlling the pandemic.
Certain people are at a better risk for serious infection and death if they contract Covid-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, than others. The factors that place people at high risk, however, have largely centred on factors like having underlying medical conditions, increased age and being male.
But people with mental health disorders even have almost double the danger (1.8 times) of Coronavirus-related death compared to those without mental state disorders, consistent with a scientific review and meta-analysis of 16 studies from seven countries.
The authors of the study checked out population-based data from Denmark, France, Israel, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and therefore the United States.
HIGH - RISK POPULATION
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders and/or manic depression – the foremost severe psychological state disorders – had the very best likelihood of causing Covid-related death (2.3 times), senior author of the study, Dr Guillaume Fond, of Aix-Marseille University in France and colleagues, found.
The results, the researchers said, underscore the necessity for patients with mental state disorders to be seen as a high-risk population within the context of Coronavirus – 19.
“ … Patients with psychological state disorders should are targeted as a high-risk population for severe kinds of Covid-19, requiring enhanced preventive and disease management strategies,” they wrote.
The studies were all published between December 2019 and July 2020 and included data from almost 19 100 patients.
The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry on 27 July 2021.
EXPLAINING THE LINK
According to the authors, people with mental health disorders can have multiple comorbidities, like hypertension and diabetes identified as risk factors for severe Coronavirus disease.
A study published this year, as an example, found that folks who have type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels are not only at higher risk for severe Covid-related hospitalisation but were also more likely to contract the disease, Health24 reported.
Additionally, psychological state disorders also are related to certain factors that have previously been linked to poor Covid outcomes, including socioeconomic deprivation and barriers to worry, explained the authors.
Other factors which will increase the danger of death for people during this group include immunological disturbances and therefore the effects of psychiatric medications.
The fact that patients with schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorders have the very best risk for Covid mortality could also be explained by their particular immunological profile, which results in changes in their immune systems.
For example, abnormal cytokine levels are found within the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, which can contribute to severe Covid outcomes, they explained. Cytokines are proteins that are released by immune cells to get an immune reaction.
SOME LIMITATIONS
One of the aims of the study was for researchers to seek out out whether patients with psychological state disorders were at increased risk of admission to medical care units (ICUs) as a result of Covid infection compared to patients without psychological state disorders.
Unfortunately, only four of the studies within the meta-analysis included data about ICU admissions, rendering the sample insufficient for meta-analysis, they said.
The team was also unable to analyse the psychological state disorders separately, which can cause important discrepancies between diagnoses. And while several of the population-based studies from South Korea, the United States, and France indicated that severe psychological state disorders were risk factors for Covid-related death, the results were less clear for other psychological state disorders, including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and personality disorders.
Another downfall was that the bulk of the studies included in their review were conducted throughout the primary wave of Covid-19 cases. Since testing for Covid was limited in some countries, it likely led to discrepancies in mortality rates by country, they added.
‘Urgent research priority’
Future studies, therefore, should evaluate the danger for patients with each psychological state disorder more accurately, they suggested, considering they were unable to try to do so thanks to the limited published data.
“Determining whether patients with psychological state disorders are at high risk of severe Covid-19 is an urgent research priority and may alert health policymakers and cause adaptions in preventive care and disease management strategies to satisfy their health needs,” they stressed.
Moreover, the training made available for ICU staff on psychological state disorders could potentially reduce mental disease stigma, they said, and consequently, improve ICU admission of patients with psychological state disorders.
Source
https://www.news24.com/health24/medical/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-people-with-mental-health-disorders-nearly-twice-as-likely-to-die-if-infected-study-finds-20210802-3