COVID-19, Long COVID Syndrome, and Mental Health Sequelae in a Mexican Population

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is currently a worldwide threat and concern, not only because of COVID-19 itself but its sequelae. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a relation between COVID-19, Long COVID, and the prevalence of mental health disorders exist. A total of 203 people from Tabasco were included in this study, answering a survey integrated by three dominions: General and epidemiological data, the DASS-21 test (to determine the presence of signs or symptoms suggestive of depression, anxiety, and/or stress) and an exploratory questionnaire about Long COVID syndrome. A descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was made via Microsoft Excel and Graphpad Prism software, evaluating differences through the Mann–Whitney U test and considering p < 0.05 as statistically significant. Of the 203 people surveyed, 96 (47.29%) had had COVID-19 and 107 (52.71%) had not; from the ones that had COVID-19, 29 (30.21%) presented mental health disorders and 88 (91.66%) presented at least one symptom or sign of Long COVID syndrome; meanwhile, 31 (32.29%) presented 10 or more symptoms or signs. From the comparison between the population with previous mental health disorders and COVID-19 and those without background disorders or COVID-19, the results were the following: 27.58% vs. 16.82% presented severe depression, 48.27% vs. 17.75% presented severe anxiety, and 27.58% vs. 20.56% presented severe stress. A high prevalence of mental health effects was observed in patients without COVID-19 and increased in the population with Long COVID syndrome and previous mental health disorders.

Five cluster classifications of long COVID and their background factors: A cross-sectional study in Japan

“…Cluster 3 included many psychological symptoms, which have been reported to occur in 62.3% of COVID-19 cases. It is possible that underlying mental illness may be exacerbated by COVID-19 [18]. Notably, cluster 3 had the highest percentage of leaves of absence in our study.…”

Prevalence and determinants of post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection (Long COVID) among adults in Mexico during 2022: a retrospective analysis of nationally representative data

“… 42 , 43 Finally, the higher rate of moderate to severe depressive symptoms, brain fog and self-reported anxiety in PASC corroborate with reports that viral persistence in neural tissue, neuroinflammation and blood–brain barrier dysfunction may underlie the long-term neuropsychiatric sequelae reported in SARS-CoV-2 convalescent individuals after recovery from acute infection. 5 , 19 , 44 , 45 , 46 Furthermore, decreased resilience and impaired homeostatic reserve might be underlying mechanisms linking anxiety and depression with the development of PASC and subacute COVID-19. 47 , 48 It is speculated that increased inflammatory responses and an inadequate adaptation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis to hypocortisolemia after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection may underlie the occurrence of symptoms related to brain fog, post-exertional malaise, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and depression in PASC, 2 , 21 , 49 , 50 which often last the longest in patients with persistent COVID-19 symptoms.…”

Long-COVID stress symptoms: Mental health, anxiety, depression, or posttraumatic stress.

“…Perhaps more concerning than the variability of specific symptoms in long-COVID patients is that 83% reported three or more long-COVID symptoms, and 32% reported 10 or more symptoms highlighting the cumulative nature of long COVID (Villalpando et al, 2022). As expected, higher numbers of long-COVID symptoms experienced by patients are associated with greater impairment and reduced quality of life (Han et al, 2022), with one study reporting that long-COVID patients' quality of life score was more than 14 points lower than individuals who had never had COVID-19 (Orrù et al, 2021).…”

“…A study found that long-COVID patients experience a new onset of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychosis, and suicidal ideation at higher rates than the general population and, in some instances, even higher than among patients fully recovered from COVID-19 (Lamontagne et al, 2021). The estimates of long-COVID patients with anxiety ranged from 23% to 48% (Badenoch et al, 2022;Premraj et al, 2022;Silva Andrade et al, 2021;Villalpando et al, 2022); depression from 17% to 48% (Magnúsdóttir et al, 2022;Premraj et al, 2022;Rass et al, 2022;Silva Andrade et al, 2021;Villalpando et al, 2022) and PTSD from 10% to 37.5% (Badenoch et al, 2022;Rass et al, 2022;Villalpando et al, 2022), far exceeding trends in other populations. Furthermore, the compounding nature of mental health symptoms also raises concerns for long-COVID patients.…”

“…Furthermore, the compounding nature of mental health symptoms also raises concerns for long-COVID patients. One study by Villalpando et al (2022) found 62% of their sample met criteria for one mental health disorder and 25% endorsed as many as three.…”