Long COVID syndrome: psychological and sexual dysfunction among survivors of COVID-19 infection

Abstract

Background: To explore the neuropsychiatric symptoms, sleep disturbances, and sexual dysfunction in patients with long COVID syndrome, which can help in building better follow up strategies for COVID-19 survivors. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional research was undertaken at the premises of a psychiatry unit at a tertiary care unit in Karachi, Pakistan, between August 2022 and April 2023. All individuals aged 18 years or older, who had a history of contracting COVID-19 infection in the last 12 months presented to the department of Psychiatry with neuropsychiatric symptoms were recruited. Using a pre-defined questionnaire, data was collected from the participants. A linear logistic regression was used to find the impact of age, gender, hospitalization, and duration of home isolation on the likelihood of persistent neuropsychiatric symptoms or sexual dysfunction. Results: A total of 457 patients were included. It was found that individuals were less likely to experience neuropsychiatric symptoms as age increased (OR=0.968, 95% CI: 0.949, 0.986, P=0.001). Females were 4.8 times more likely to experience neuropsychiatric symptoms than males, and the association was extremely significant (OR = 4.851, 95% CI: 3.085, 7.626, P < 0.0001). An increase in age raised the odds of having sleep disturbances among the survivors by 2.7 times (OR = 2.672, 95% CI: 2.654, 2.684, P < 0.0001). The odds of having sleep disturbances were 3 times more likely in female participants as compared to male participants (OR = 3.00, 95% CI: 1.771, 5.094, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: The majority of the COVID-19 survivors are presenting with persistent neuropsychiatric and sexual symptoms in our setting. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain proper follow-up with the survivors of COVID-19 and counsel the patients to inform the family physician if these symptoms persist for longer than a month. Increasing such practices of regular follow-ups with COVID-19 survivors can help in detecting early neuropsychiatric and sexual changes.

“The dream is that there’s one place you go”: a qualitative study of women’s experiences seeking care from Long COVID clinics in the USA

“…Finally, while our study focused on women’s experiences due both to their higher risk of developing Long COVID and to gendered barriers to care [ 2 , 28 ], challenges with limited clinic capacity, coordination of care, and Long COVID expertise among providers likely impact Long COVID patients of all genders. Future research should consider men’s experiences seeking Long COVID care, particularly in light of evidence that symptoms may vary by sex [ 53 , 54 ].…”