Mental and behavioural disorders and COVID-19-associated death in older people

COVID-19 deaths in a secondary mental health service

We present data on outcomes associated with COVID-19 in a time-limited sample of 1181 patients who were receiving treatment within secondary care services from a mental health and learning disabilities service provider. Unfortunately, 101 (9%) died after contracting COVID-19, though the real death rate is probably lower due to mild, unreported cases. Those who died were more likely to be male, of older age (75.7 vs. 42.7 yrs) and have a diagnosis of dementia (57% vs. 3.4%). We examined Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS) scores as possible predictors for COVID-19 outcomes. Although the deceased group had higher HoNOS scores (17.7 vs. 13.2), the differences disappeared when examining only cases of dementia in 65+ age-group, suggesting that diagnosis is key. There has been little information published about people with severe mental health problems within secondary care. Although our sample is small, it does highlight some important inequalities that would benefit from further research.

Health-related quality of life issues, including symptoms, in patients with active COVID-19 or post COVID-19; a systematic literature review

Purpose

This systematic review was performed to identify all relevant health-related quality of life (HRQoL) issues associated with COVID-19.

Methods

A systematic literature search was undertaken in April 2020. In four teams of three reviewers each, all abstracts were independently reviewed for inclusion by two reviewers. Using a pre-defined checklist of 93 criteria for each publication, data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers and subsequently compared and discussed. If necessary, a third reviewer resolved any discrepancies. The search was updated in February 2021 to retrieve new publications on HRQoL issues including issues related to the long-term consequences of COVID-19.

Results

The search in April 2020 identified 3342 potentially relevant publications, and 339 publications were selected for full-text review and data extraction. We identified 75 distinct symptoms and other HRQoL issues categorized into 12 thematic areas; from general symptoms such as fever, myalgia, and fatigue, to neurological and psychological issues. The updated search revealed three extra issues experienced during active disease and long-term problems with fatigue, psychological issues and impaired cognitive function.

Conclusion

This first comprehensive systematic review provides a detailed overview of the wide range of HRQoL issues experienced by patients with COVID-19 throughout the course of the disease. It demonstrates the devastating impact of the disease and provides critically important information for clinicians, to enable them to better recognize the disease and to provide knowledge important for treatment and follow-up. The results provided the foundation for the international development of a COVID-19 specific patient-reported HRQoL questionnaire.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11136-021-02908-z.