Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 30;20(4):762-767.
doi: 10.9758/cpn.2022.20.4.762.

Hydroxychloroquine, Interleukin-6 Receptor Antagonists and Corticoid Treatments of Acute COVID-19 Infection: Psychiatric Symptoms and Mental Disorders 4 Months Later

Matthieu Gasnier  1   2 , Walid Choucha  1   2 , David Montani  3 , Nicolas Noël, Céline Verstuyft  2   4 , Francois Radiguer  5 , Xavier Monnet  6 , Laurent Becquemont  2   7 , Emmanuelle Corruble  1   2 , Romain Colle  1   2 ; COMEBAC Study Group
Affiliations

Hydroxychloroquine, Interleukin-6 Receptor Antagonists and Corticoid Treatments of Acute COVID-19 Infection: Psychiatric Symptoms and Mental Disorders 4 Months Later

Matthieu Gasnier et al. Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. .

Abstract

Objective: Psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders are common after Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19). Some drugs used to treat acute COVID-19 have psychiatric side effects. We assessed the psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders of patients treated for acute COVID-19 with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), interleukin-6 receptor antagonists (anti-IL-6), and corticoids (CTC).

Methods: We evaluated 177 patients in a day hospital 4 months after acute infection.

Results: In a multivariate analysis, HCQ was associated with significant anxiety symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 5.9, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.8-20.0, p = 0.003) and mental disorders (OR = 4.1, 95% CI = 1.2-13.9, p = 0.02). In a bivariate analysis with propensity matched cohorts, HCQ was associated with significant anxiety symptoms (9 patients [50.0%] with significant symptoms in the HCQ group versus 15 [20.1%] in the control group, OR = 3.8, 95% CI = 1.3-11.3, p = 0.01). Anti-IL-6 and CTC were not associated with significant psychiatric symptoms or mental disorders.

Conclusion: We recommend monitoring psychiatric symptoms, especially anxiety, in patients treated with HCQ during COVID-19 infection. Further studies with larger samples and prospective assessments are needed to confirm our results.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Major depressive disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

Dr Montani reported personal fees from Actelion, GSK, Pfizer, MSD, Chiesi, Boehringer, and Incyte Biosciences France; grants from Bayer and MSD; and nonfinancial support from Acceleron, outside the submitted work. Dr Monnet reported personal fees from Getinge Pulsion Medical and Baxter outside the submitted work. Dr Becquemont reported grants from Sanofi Genzyme for a presentation concerning Gaucher disease, and pharmacogenetics and drug interactions with Eliglustat outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

References

    1. Huang L, Yao Q, Gu X, Wang Q, Ren L, Wang Y, et al. 1-year outcomes in hospital survivors with COVID-19: a longitudinal cohort study. Lancet. 2021;398:747–758. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01755-4. Erratum in: Lancet 2022;399:1778. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Morin L, Savale L, Pham T, Colle R, Figueiredo S, et al. Writing Committee for the COMEBAC Study Group, author. Four-month clinical status of a cohort of patients after hospitalization for COVID-19. JAMA. 2021;325:1525–1534. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.3331. Erratum in: JAMA 2021;326:1874. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators, author. Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet. 2021;398:1700–1712. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(21)02143-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Taquet M, Geddes JR, Husain M, Luciano S, Harrison PJ. 6-month neurological and psychiatric outcomes in 236 379 survivors of COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records. Lancet Psychiatry. 2021;8:416–427. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00084-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Coppock D, Baram M, Chang AM, Henwood P, Kubey A, Summer R, et al. COVID-19 treatment combinations and associations with mortality in a large multi-site healthcare system. PLoS One. 2021;16:e0252591. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252591. - DOI - PMC - PubMed