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. 2021 Dec;92(12):1254-1258.
doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2021-327565. Epub 2021 Sep 28.

Anxiety and depression symptoms after COVID-19 infection: results from the COVID Symptom Study app

Kerstin Klaser  1 , Ellen J Thompson  2 , Long H Nguyen  3   4 , Carole H Sudre  1   5   6 , Michela Antonelli  1 , Benjamin Murray  1 , Liane S Canas  1 , Erika Molteni  1 , Mark S Graham  1 , Eric Kerfoot  1 , Liyuan Chen  1 , Jie Deng  1 , Anna May  7 , Christina Hu  7 , Andy Guest  7 , Somesh Selvachandran  7 , David A Drew  3   4 , Marc Modat  1 , Andrew T Chan  3   4 , Jonathan Wolf  7 , Tim D Spector  2 , Alexander Hammers  1   8 , Emma L Duncan  2 , Sebastien Ourselin  1 , Claire J Steves  9
Affiliations

Anxiety and depression symptoms after COVID-19 infection: results from the COVID Symptom Study app

Kerstin Klaser et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Mental health issues have been reported after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, comparison to prevalence in uninfected individuals and contribution from common risk factors (eg, obesity and comorbidities) have not been examined. We identified how COVID-19 relates to mental health in the large community-based COVID Symptom Study.

Methods: We assessed anxiety and depression symptoms using two validated questionnaires in 413148 individuals between February and April 2021; 26998 had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. We adjusted for physical and mental prepandemic comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), age and sex.

Findings: Overall, 26.4% of participants met screening criteria for general anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression were slightly more prevalent in previously SARS-CoV-2-positive (30.4%) vs SARS-CoV-2-negative (26.1%) individuals. This association was small compared with the effect of an unhealthy BMI and the presence of other comorbidities, and not evident in younger participants (≤40 years). Findings were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses. Association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression was stronger in individuals with recent (<30 days) versus more distant (>120 days) infection, suggesting a short-term effect.

Interpretation: A small association was identified between SARS-CoV-2 infection and anxiety and depression symptoms. The proportion meeting criteria for self-reported anxiety and depression disorders is only slightly higher than prepandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; depression; psychiatry.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: AM, CH, AG, SS and JW are employees of Zoe Limited. TDS reports being a consultant for Zoe Limited during the conduct of the study. ATC previously served as an investigator on a separate study supported by Zoe Limited.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association between age, body mass index, male sex, comorbidities, a previous diagnosis of a MH condition, learning disabilities, a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result (PCR and lateral flow) and the OR of anxiety/depression symptoms suggested by the results of the MH survey. MH, mental health.
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Update of

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