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Risk of psychological sequelae among coronavirus disease‐2019 survivors: A nationwide cohort study in South Korea
Author(s) -
Oh Tak Kyu,
Park Hye Youn,
Song InAe
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
depression and anxiety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.634
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6394
pISSN - 1091-4269
DOI - 10.1002/da.23124
Subject(s) - medicine , cohort , population , depression (economics) , odds ratio , cohort study , alcohol abuse , disease , psychiatry , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Abstract Background We sought to investigate the risk of psychological diseases among coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) survivors in South Korea. Methods The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) COVID‐19 cohort database, comprising COVID‐19 patients and a control population from January 1, 2020 to June 4, 2020, was used in this study. COVID‐19 patients were defined as individuals who were confirmed as COVID‐19 positive, regardless of disease severity, and COVID‐19 survivors were defined as individuals who recovered from COVID‐19. The control population was extracted using stratification methods according to the age, sex, and residence of COVID‐19 patients. Individuals previously diagnosed with any psychological disease were excluded from the analysis. The primary endpoint was a new diagnosis of psychological disease. Multivariable logistic modeling was used for statistical analyses. Results A total of 99,742 individuals (5879 [5.9%] COVID‐19 survivors and 93,863 [94.1%] controls) were included in the final analysis. The incidence of newly diagnosed psychological disease, depression, psychosis, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse was 1438 (1.4%), 1268 (1.3%), 44 (0.0%), 173 (0.2%), and 2 (0.0%), respectively. In the multivariable model after adjusting for confounders, the COVID‐19 survivors had a 2.98‐fold higher probability of developing the psychological disease compared with the control group. Specifically, the odds of depression and psychosis in the COVID‐19 survivors were 3.34‐fold and 2.49‐fold higher than that in the control group, respectively. Conclusion COVID‐19 survivors had a higher risk of experiencing psychological disease than the control population in South Korea. Particularly, COVID‐19 may increase the risk of developing depression and psychosis.