Mental health problems raise the odds of cognitive impairment in COVID-19 survivors

Madhushree Chakrabarty; Piali Chatterjee; Adreesh Mukherjee; Gautam Das; Rafikul Islam Mollah; Banshidhar Mondal; Swarup Sardar; Ayanendranath Basu; Mrinalkanti Ghosh; Amitabha Sengupta; Sankar K Pal; Atanu Biswas

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1370085

Mental health problems raise the odds of cognitive impairment in COVID-19 survivors

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 14:15:1370085. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1370085. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Madhushree Chakrabarty^{1

2}, Piali Chatterjee^{1

2}, Adreesh Mukherjee³, Gautam Das^{1

2}, Rafikul Islam Mollah^{1

2}, Banshidhar Mondal^{1

2}, Swarup Sardar^{1

2}, Ayanendranath Basu⁴, Mrinalkanti Ghosh⁵, Amitabha Sengupta², Sankar K Pal⁶, Atanu Biswas^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuromedicine, Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, Kolkata, India.
² Department of Neuromedicine, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial (SSKM) Hospital, Kolkata, India.
³ Department of Neuromedicine, North Bengal Medical College, Siliguri, India.
⁴ Interdisciplinary Statistical Research Unit (ISRU), Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Burdwan Medical College, Bardhaman, India.
⁶ Center for Soft Computing Research, A National Facility (CSCR), Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 survivors around the globe are suffering from mental health issues. While mental health problems can be an early warning sign of dementia, they may also increase the chances of developing the disease. In this study, we examined the mental health of COVID-19 survivors and mapped its associations with cognitive and demographic variables.

Method: COVID-19 survivors listed in the databases of three tertiary care hospitals in Kolkata were contacted sequentially. 376 willing patients were interviewed over the telephone. 99 COVID-19 patients and 31 matched controls participated in the in-person interviews that were arranged for a more detailed investigation. The participants were administered standardized tests that are widely used for the assessment of cognitive functioning and mental health status.

Result: 64.89% of COVID-19 survivors reported a deterioration in physical functioning. 44.95% reported a decline in mental health, whereas 41.49% reported a drop in cognitive performance. Detailed investigations revealed that they had an increased risk of having depression, anxiety, and poor sleep quality by 91%, 68%, and 140%, respectively. 6.1% of the patients had mild cognitive impairment, and 4% had dementia. COVID-19 patients who had depression and anxiety were 8.6 and 19.4 times more likely to have cognitive decline, respectively. Compared to the matched controls, COVID-19 patients had greater depression (p<.001), anxiety (p<.001), stress (p =.003), and insomnia (p <.001). They also scored significantly lower on Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-III (p =.009) and Picture Naming Test (p =.005) and took significantly longer to complete Trail Making Test-A (p =.002).

Conclusion: COVID-19 survivors in this study had major mental health issues even one year after contracting the virus. They had significant cognitive deficits that might progress into dementia. Strict monitoring and systematic treatment plans should be implemented as soon as possible.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; cognition; depression; insomnia; long-term-effects; mental health; stress.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the research grant awarded to the last author (ABi) from the Indian Council of Medical Research, Govt. of India—Grant No. ECD/CSTPU/Adhoc/COVID-19/18/2021-22.