COVID-19 associated central nervous system manifestations, mental and neurological symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected more than 27 million confirmed cases and 8,90,000 deaths all around the world. Verity of viral infections can infect the nervous system; these viral infections can present a wide range of manifestation. The aim of the current study was to systematically review the COVID-19 associated central nervous system manifestations, mental and neurological symptoms. For that we conducted a comprehensive systematic literature review of four online databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and Embase. All relevant articles that reported psychiatric/psychological symptoms or disorders in COVID-19 without considering time and language restrictions were assessed. All the study procedures were performed based on the PRISMA criteria. Due to the screening, 14 studies were included. The current study result indicated that, the pooled prevalence of CNS or mental associated disorders with 95% CI was 50.68% (6.68–93.88). The most prevalence symptoms were hyposmia/anosmia/olfactory dysfunction (number of study: 10) with 36.20% (14.99–60.51). Only one study reported numbness/paresthesia and dysphonia. Pooled prevalence of numbness/paresthesia and dysphonia was 5.83% (2.17–12.25) and 2.39% (10.75–14.22). The pooled prevalence of depression and anxiety was 3.52% (2.62–4.54) and 13.92% (9.44–19.08). Our findings demonstrate that COVID-19 has a certain relation with neurological symptoms. The hypsomia, anosmia or olfactory dysfunction was most frequent symptom. Other symptoms were headache or dizziness, dysgeusia or ageusia, dysphonia and fatigue. Depression, anxiety, and confusion were less frequent symptoms.

COVID-19 neurological manifestations: correlation of cerebral MRI imaging and lung imaging—Observational study

“…These results were in concordance to cross-sectional study done by Carcamo Garcia et al [ 7 ] who found that the most common neurological symptoms were headache (72%), hypogeusia or ageusia (41%), hyposmia or anosmia (40%). While they were in discordant to Study conducted by Soltani et al [ 8 ] which indicated that, the prevalence of CNS or mental associated disorders was 50.68%. The most prevalent symptoms were hyposmia/ anosmia/ olfactory dysfunction, while the prevalence of depression and anxiety was 3.52%.…”

Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study

“…In particular, home confinement and quarantine have led to prolonged separation from relatives and loved ones [ 5 , 6 ], contributing to increasing the levels of distress not only for people with pre-existing mental disorders, but also for those affected by COVID-19, healthcare professionals, and the general population as a whole [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2 also presents neurotropism and may thus directly trigger possible neuropsychiatric manifestations [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health include the rise of anxiety and depressive symptoms, somatic complaints [ 6 , 15 , 16 ], disruption of circadian rhythms, with frequent sleep disorders [ 17 ], phobias, cognitive deficits, and traumatic experiences.…”

Viral Coinfection among COVID-19 Patient Groups: An Update Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…We performed the analysis using Stata software 14.0. COVID-19 cases, viral coinfection prevalence, and types of viruses were extracted [14][15][16][17][18].…”