Incidence of cognitive, depressive and anxiety disorders in COVID‐19 patients

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe COVID‐19 pandemic has become a serious global problem that has affected almost all aspects of modern society, especially public health. Among the significant health problems one can single out ‐ an increase in the number of people with cognitive, depressive and anxiety disorders in COVID‐19 patients. These disoders may be due to the severity of the patient’s condition during the period of COVID‐19 disease, the presence of significant events after suffering COVID‐19 or premorbid cognitive (vascular pathology or Alzheimer’s disease) and emotional status.MethodWe examined 60 patients after COVID‐19, 33 (55%) were men, at 7.34 ± 0.14 months follow‐up after hospital treatment. Mean age ‐ 59.93±1.32. Participants were completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). Depression and anxiety were identified using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).ResultAccording to the measured MoCA, 30 (50%) of the examined patients had mild cognitive impairments, no severe cognitive impairments were detected. According to the FAB scale, 25 (41.7%) patients had moderate frontal dysfunction, no severe frontal dysfunction were detected. According to the HADS scale: anxiety was detected in 10 (16.6%) patients; depression — in 3 (5%) patients. The study found evidence that cognitive impairment was more common in patients with a low level of education, atherosclerosis of the brachiocephalic arteries, and chronic heart failure (p<0.05). Cognitive impairment and anxiety disorders were significantly more frequently recorded in older patients (p<0.05).ConclusionCOVID‐19 survivors showed a considerable prevalence of cognitive impairment. Considering the alarming impact of COVID‐19 infection on mental health, we recommend to assess cognitive and emotional status of COVID‐19 survivors for early diagnosis and treatment of cognitive and emotional disorders.