COVID-19 is more than a respiratory disease

According to a study, novel coronavirus can trigger psychological distress in patients and can cause anxiety and depression

Depressed mood or anxiety exhibited in COVID-19 patients may possibly be a sign the virus affects the central nervous system, according to a new study.

The findings revealed that these two psychological symptoms were most closely associated with a loss of smell and taste rather than the more severe indicators of the novel coronavirus such as shortness of breath, cough or fever.

“The unexpected results that the potentially least worrisome symptoms of COVID19 may be causing the greatest degree of psychological distress could potentially tell us something about the disease,” said study researcher Ahmad Sedaghat from the University of Cincinnati in the US.

For the study, the research team conducted a prospective, cross-sectional telephone questionnaire study which examined characteristics and symptoms of 114 patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 over a sixweek period at Kantonsspital Aarau in Aarau, Switzerland.

At the time of enrolment in the study, when participants were experiencing COVID19, 47.4 per cent of participants reported at least several days of depressed mood per week while 21.1 per cent reported depressed mood nearly every day.

In terms of severity, 44.7 per cent of participants reported expressing mild anxiety while 10.5 per cent reported severe anxiety. “We think our findings suggest the possibility that psychological distress in the form of depressed mood or anxiety may reflect the penetration of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, into the central nervous system.”