Observational studyBMC infectious diseases2025
Association between mental health symptoms and autoimmunity in patients with long COVID.
Observational study in BMC infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNeuropsychiatric symptoms are common features in long COVID. The pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric manifestations in both acute COVID-19 and long COVID remains unclear. This study aimed to examine mental health symptoms-depressive, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms-in COVID-19 survivors with long COVID, and to explore their potential association with autoimmune activity.
methodsWe conducted an observational, cross-sectional study of 228 adults recruited from a long COVID program in Cartagena, Colombia. Participants underwent clinician-administered interviews and completed validated psychometric scales to assess depressive (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and insomnia (ISI) symptoms. Sociodemographic, clinical, and biological data were collected. The autoantibody panel included antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-SSA/Ro, anti-SSB/La, anti-RNP, anti-Smith (Sm), rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-thyroglobulin (Tg), and anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO), measured via ELISA and immunofluorescence. Robust logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between long COVID, autoantibody positivity, and mental health symptoms, adjusting for age, sex, and relevant covariates.
results57% of participants with a history of COVID-19 acute infection reported long COVID. In participants with long COVID, we reported high proportions of depressive (21.2%), anxiety (31.2%), and insomnia (28.7%) symptoms. Moreover, an association of all three mental health symptoms with autoantibody positivity (particularly antinuclear antibodies [ANA] isolated or co-occurring with anti-TPO antibodies) was observed in individuals with long COVID. Our findings suggest a potential association between psychopathological symptoms, autoantibody positivity, and distinct clinical profiles of long COVID, warranting further longitudinal investigation.
conclusionsMental health symptoms (MHS) should be considered one of the main targets involved in translational research in long COVID. There is an urgent need for consultation-liaison physicians to work closely with immunologists, rheumatologists, and pain medicine physicians in clinical settings as well as in research. This will contribute to a better understanding of the impact of MHS during illness in long COVID variants.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.