TY - JOUR
T1 - Elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety among family members and friends of critically ill COVID-19 patients – an observational study of five cohorts across four countries
AU - Lovik, Anikó
AU - González-Hijón, Juan
AU - Hoffart, Asle
AU - Fawns-Ritchie, Chloe
AU - Magnúsdóttir, Ingibjörg
AU - Lu, Li
AU - Unnarsdóttir, Anna Bára
AU - Kähler, Anna K.
AU - Campbell, Archie
AU - Hauksdóttir, Arna
AU - Chourpiliadis, Charilaos
AU - McCartney, Daniel L.
AU - Thordardottir, Edda Bjork
AU - Joyce, Emily E.
AU - Frans, Emma M.
AU - Jakobsdottir, Johanna
AU - Trogstad, Lill
AU - Andreassen, Ole A.
AU - Magnus, Per
AU - Johnson, Sverre Urnes
AU - Sullivan, Patrick F.
AU - Aspelund, Thor
AU - Porteous, David J.
AU - Ask, Helga
AU - Ebrahimi, Omid V.
AU - Valdimarsdóttir, Unnur A.
AU - Fang, Fang
N1 - All authors contributed to the initial discussion of the study aims and design. The cohort-specific and pooled data analyses were designed by AL, JGH, AH, CFR, IM, LL, DLM, JJ, TA, HA, OVE, UAV and FF. AL, JGH, AH, CFR, IM, LL and DLM performed all analyses. All authors participated in the interpretation of the findings and had access to the cohort-specific and pooled results, as well as the R codes used for the analysis. AL, JGH, CC, EEJ, UAV and FF performed the literature review and drafted the manuscript. All authors revised the manuscript for critical content and approved the final version of the manuscript.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Background: Little is known regarding the mental health impact of having a significant person (family member and/or close friend) with COVID-19 of different severity.Methods: The study included five prospective cohorts from four countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK) with self-reported data on COVID-19 and symptoms of depression and anxiety during March 2020–March 2022. We calculated prevalence ratios (PR) of depression and anxiety in relation to having a significant person with COVID-19 and performed a longitudinal analysis in the Swedish cohort to describe temporal patterns.Findings: 162,237 and 168,783 individuals were included in the analysis of depression and anxiety, respectively, of whom 24,718 and 27,003 reported a significant person with COVID-19. Overall, the PR was 1.07 (95% CI: 1.05–1.10) for depression and 1.08 (95% CI: 1.03–1.13) for anxiety in relation to having a significant person with COVID-19. The respective PRs for depression and anxiety were 1.15 (95% CI: 1.08–1.23) and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.14–1.34) if the patient was hospitalized, 1.42 (95% CI: 1.27–1.57) and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.31–1.60) if the patient was ICU-admitted, and 1.34 (95% CI: 1.22–1.46) and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.22–1.51) if the patient died. Individuals with a significant person with hospitalized, ICU-admitted, or fatal COVID-19 showed elevated prevalence of depression and anxiety during the entire year after the COVID-19 diagnosis.Interpretation: Family members and close friends of critically ill COVID-19 patients show persistently elevated prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms.
AB - Background: Little is known regarding the mental health impact of having a significant person (family member and/or close friend) with COVID-19 of different severity.Methods: The study included five prospective cohorts from four countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK) with self-reported data on COVID-19 and symptoms of depression and anxiety during March 2020–March 2022. We calculated prevalence ratios (PR) of depression and anxiety in relation to having a significant person with COVID-19 and performed a longitudinal analysis in the Swedish cohort to describe temporal patterns.Findings: 162,237 and 168,783 individuals were included in the analysis of depression and anxiety, respectively, of whom 24,718 and 27,003 reported a significant person with COVID-19. Overall, the PR was 1.07 (95% CI: 1.05–1.10) for depression and 1.08 (95% CI: 1.03–1.13) for anxiety in relation to having a significant person with COVID-19. The respective PRs for depression and anxiety were 1.15 (95% CI: 1.08–1.23) and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.14–1.34) if the patient was hospitalized, 1.42 (95% CI: 1.27–1.57) and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.31–1.60) if the patient was ICU-admitted, and 1.34 (95% CI: 1.22–1.46) and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.22–1.51) if the patient died. Individuals with a significant person with hospitalized, ICU-admitted, or fatal COVID-19 showed elevated prevalence of depression and anxiety during the entire year after the COVID-19 diagnosis.Interpretation: Family members and close friends of critically ill COVID-19 patients show persistently elevated prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms.
KW - COVID-19
KW - significant person
KW - depression
KW - anxiety
KW - cross-country study
U2 - 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100733
DO - 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100733
M3 - Article
SN - 2666-7762
VL - 33
JO - The Lancet Regional Health - Europe
JF - The Lancet Regional Health - Europe
M1 - 100733
ER -