Prognosis
Stress, Anxiety Boost Chances of Getting Long Covid, Study Finds
- Harvard scientists link psychological distress to impairment
- Risk of long Covid increased with more pre-infection distress
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Depression, anxiety, worries about the pandemic and other sources of distress prior to getting Covid-19 may increase the chance of developing persistent “long-haul” symptoms, a Harvard University study found.
Preinfection psychological distress was associated with a higher risk of post-Covid conditions, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Medicine in Boston said. Their study, which tracked some 55,000 people over 19 months, found the link increased in a dose-dependent manner. Those who experienced two or more types of distress before their infection had almost a 50% greater risk of self-reported impairment lasting four weeks or more.