ORCID

Abstract

Importance Associations have been found between COVID-19 and subsequent mental illness in both hospital- and population-based studies. However, evidence regarding which mental illnesses are associated with COVID-19 by vaccination status in these populations is limited.Objective To determine which mental illnesses are associated with diagnosed COVID-19 by vaccination status in both hospitalized patients and the general population.Design, Setting, and Participants This study was conducted in 3 cohorts, 1 before vaccine availability followed during the wild-type/Alpha variant eras (January 2020-June 2021) and 2 (vaccinated and unvaccinated) during the Delta variant era (June-December 2021). With National Health Service England approval, OpenSAFELY-TPP was used to access linked data from 24 million people registered with general practices in England using TPP SystmOne. People registered with a GP in England for at least 6 months and alive with known age between 18 and 110 years, sex, deprivation index information, and region at baseline were included. People were excluded if they had COVID-19 before baseline. Data were analyzed from July 2022 to June 2024.Exposure Confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis recorded in primary care secondary care, testing data, or the death registry.Main Outcomes and Measures Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) comparing the incidence of mental illnesses after diagnosis of COVID-19 with the incidence before or without COVID-19 for depression, serious mental illness, general anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, addiction, self-harm, and suicide.Results The largest cohort, the pre–vaccine availability cohort, included 18 648 606 people (9 363 710 [50.2%] female and 9 284 896 [49.8%] male) with a median (IQR) age of 49 (34-64) years. The vaccinated cohort included 14 035 286 individuals (7 308 556 [52.1%] female and 6 726 730 [47.9%] male) with a median (IQR) age of 53 (38-67) years. The unvaccinated cohort included 3 242 215 individuals (1 363 401 [42.1%] female and 1 878 814 [57.9%] male) with a median (IQR) age of 35 (27-46) years. Incidence of most outcomes was elevated during weeks 1 through 4 after COVID-19 diagnosis, compared with before or without COVID-19, in each cohort. Incidence of mental illnesses was lower in the vaccinated cohort compared with the pre–vaccine availability and unvaccinated cohorts: aHRs for depression and serious mental illness during weeks 1 through 4 after COVID-19 were 1.93 (95% CI, 1.88-1.98) and 1.49 (95% CI, 1.41-1.57) in the pre–vaccine availability cohort and 1.79 (95% CI, 1.68-1.90) and 1.45 (95% CI, 1.27-1.65) in the unvaccinated cohort compared with 1.16 (95% CI, 1.12-1.20) and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.85-0.98) in the vaccinated cohort. Elevation in incidence was higher and persisted longer after hospitalization for COVID-19.Conclusions and Relevance In this study, incidence of mental illnesses was elevated for up to a year following severe COVID-19 in unvaccinated people. These findings suggest that vaccination may mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 on mental health.

Publication Date

2024-08-21

Publication Title

JAMA Psychiatry

Volume

81

Issue

11

ISSN

2168-622X

Acceptance Date

2024-05-21

Deposit Date

2024-08-23

Funding

Funding/Support: This work was supported by the COVID-19 Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing National Core Study, which is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) (MC_PC_20059) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (COV-LT-0009). Dr V. Walker is also supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol (MC_UU_00032/03). Dr Wei was supported by a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) MRC (MC/W021358/1) and received funding from UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council impact acceleration account (EP/X525789/1). Dr Mehrkar received funding from the Bennett Foundation , Wellcome Trust , NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre , NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley , and the Mohn-Westlake Foundation . The OpenSAFELY Platform is supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust (222097/Z/20/Z) and the MRC (MR/V015737/1, MC_PC_20059, and MR/W016729/1). In addition, development of OpenSAFELY has been funded by the Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing strand of the National Core Studies programme (MC_PC_20030: MC_PC_20059), the NIHR -funded CONVALESCENCE programme (COV-LT-0009), the NIHR (NIHR135559 and COV-LT2-0073), and the Data and Connectivity National Core Study funded by UK Research and Innovation (MC_PC_20058) and Health Data Research UK (HDRUK2021.000).

Keywords

Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, COVID-19 Vaccines/administration & dosage, COVID-19/epidemiology, Cohort Studies, England/epidemiology, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Disorders/epidemiology, Middle Aged, SARS-CoV-2, Vaccination/statistics & numerical data, Young Adult

First Page

1071

Last Page

1080

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