Original title: Newly Diagnosed Anxiety, Mood, and Trauma-Related Disorders Following COVID-19 Infection Among U.S. Military Beneficiaries
Researchers compared people ages 12–64 with COVID-19 to similar people without a recorded infection. They matched people on many details from their medical records, then tracked new mental health diagnoses. New diagnoses were more common in the COVID-19 group, with the strongest link for trauma and stressor-related disorders. This shows an association, not proof that COVID-19 caused the diagnoses.
Imagine comparing two groups of people after a long illness, while trying to keep their earlier health and circumstances as similar as possible. That is difficult because people can differ in many ways before they get sick. In this paper, matching people with similar recorded histories helps make the COVID-19 and uninfected groups more comparable, and tracking later diagnoses shows how their outcomes differ.
People recovering from COVID-19 may also face new mental health diagnoses. The findings support including mental health screening in post-COVID care, while leaving open why the link occurs and whether vaccines affect it.
The study finds an association, not proof that COVID-19 caused new diagnoses. It uses Military Health System records and includes people ages 12–64, so the abstract does not establish whether the findings apply to other populations. It also says more work is needed to understand biological reasons for the link and the role of vaccines.
Ask anything about this paper. Answers come from its abstract, and say so when the abstract doesn't cover your question.
Newly Diagnosed Anxiety, Mood, and Trauma-Related Disorders Following COVID-19 Infection Among U.S. Military Beneficiaries — Natalie Min, Jed Shakarji, Apryl Susi et al. — Swiss Archives of Neurology Psychiatry and Psychotherapy — doi:10.3390/sanpp176030015
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.