• Your mental health may impact your chanc

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Thursday, April 14, 2022 22:30:46
    Your mental health may impact your chances of breakthrough COVID

    Date:
    April 14, 2022
    Source:
    University of California - San Francisco
    Summary:
    A new study has shown that people who are vaccinated against
    SARS-CoV-2, and have a history of certain psychiatric conditions,
    have a heightened risk of COVID-19 -- a finding that may be related
    to impaired immune response as well as risky behaviors associated
    with some disorders.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A new study led by UC San Francisco has shown that people who are
    vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and have a history of certain psychiatric conditions, have a heightened risk of COVID-19 -- a finding that may be
    related to impaired immune response as well as risky behaviors associated
    with some disorders.


    ==========================================================================
    The researchers from UCSF and the San Francisco VA Health Care System
    found that patients over 65 with substance abuse, psychotic disorders,
    bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder and anxiety, faced increased risks
    of up to 24% for breakthrough COVID. For those under 65, risks were up
    to 11% higher than for those without a psychiatric history.

    For both age groups, data was adjusted for age, sex, race, ethnicity
    and vaccine type, as well as for smoking and underlying conditions like obesity, diabetes, sleep apnea, cardiovascular, lung, kidney and liver diseases, HIV and cancer.

    In the study, which publishes on April 14, 2022, in JAMA Network
    Open, researchers tracked data from more than a quarter of a million
    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs patients, who had completed their
    vaccine regimen and had at least one test for SARS-CoV-2. Just over
    a half (51.4%) of the patients had received at least one psychiatric
    diagnosis within the last five years and 14.8% developed breakthrough
    COVID, confirmed by a positive test.

    Waning Immunity, Less Protection to New Variants May Explain Higher
    Rates "Our research suggests that increased breakthrough infections
    in people with psychiatric disorders cannot be entirely explained by socio-demographic factors or pre-existing conditions," said senior author
    Aoife O'Donovan, PhD, of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and
    the San Francisco VA Health Care System. "It's possible that immunity
    following vaccination wanes more quickly or more strongly for people with psychiatric disorders and/or they could have less protection to newer variants." A study earlier this year, led by the same UCSF researchers,
    found that people with elevated anxiety and probable post-traumatic stress disorder, conditions associated with impulsivity, were more likely to
    engage in behaviors that put them at higher risk for COVID.



    ==========================================================================
    The average age of the 263,697 participants was 66 and 90.8% were male.

    Overall, those participants with psychiatric disorders had a 3%
    increased risk for breakthrough COVID infections in 2021, when adjusted
    for both demographic factors and pre-existing conditions, compared with participants without a psychiatric history. But the risk was 24% higher
    for over-65s with substance abuse, 23% higher for those with psychotic disorders, 16% higher for bipolar disorder, 14% for adjustment disorder
    and 12% for anxiety.

    Surprisingly, given the greater incidence of breakthrough infections
    among younger people, this study showed significantly smaller effects in
    the under- 65s group. Moreover, risks were 10% lower in participants with psychotic disorders compared to those without a psychiatric diagnosis --
    a decrease that O'Donovan attributes to possible lower socialization among younger people with psychotic disorders compared with older people who
    "may be less socially isolated because of their greater burden of ill
    health and contacts with caregivers." However, risks for breakthrough infections associated with substance abuse, adjustment disorder, anxiety
    and post-traumatic stress disorder were all higher in the younger cohort
    than their peers without a psychiatric diagnosis -- 11%, 9%, 4% and 3%, respectively.

    Higher Need for In-Person Care May Mean Increased Risk First author
    Kristen Nishimi, PhD, also of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
    and the San Francisco VA Health Care System, believes the higher
    incidence of breakthrough infection among older participants may be due
    to "decreased immunological response to vaccine that has been associated
    with some psychiatric disorders, which may be more substantial in older adults." It's also possible that older adults with psychiatric disorders
    "may require more frequent in-person care, which could increase their interactions with the health care system," she noted.



    ========================================================================== Breakthrough risks for other non-psychiatric conditions were also
    calculated and adjusted for factors like obesity and smoking status, as
    well as other underlying conditions. The researchers found that patients
    with chronic kidney disease had an increased risk of 23%, compared with
    20% for HIV, 19% for cardiovascular disease, 18% for COPD and 13% for
    sleep apnea.

    This shows that certain psychiatric conditions, particularly in the
    65-plus group, face risks that are on a par with other conditions,
    said O'Donovan.

    "Mental health is important to consider in conjunction with other risk factors," she said, "and some patients should be prioritized for boosters
    and other critical preventive efforts." Co-Authors: Thomas C. Neylan,
    MD, of San Francisco VA Health Care System and UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences; Daniel Bertenthal, MPH, of San Francisco VA Health Care
    System; Karen H. Seal, MD, of UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences,
    UCSF Department of Medicine and San Francisco VA Health Care System.

    Funding: This work was supported by a UCSF Department of Psychiatry Rapid
    Award and UCSF Faculty Resource Fund Award to O'Donovan. Nishimi and
    Bertenthal are supported by awards from the Department of Veterans Affairs

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    University_of_California_-_San_Francisco. Original written by Suzanne
    Leigh. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Kristen Nishimi, Thomas C. Neylan, Daniel Bertenthal, Karen H. Seal,
    Aoife O'Donovan. Association of Psychiatric Disorders
    With Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infection Among
    Vaccinated Adults. JAMA Network Open, 2022; 5 (4): e227287 DOI:
    10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.7287 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220414125117.htm

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