The effect of SSRIs on the severity of COVID-19

Abstract

V pr b hu pandemie COVID-19 vznikly na základ odborn˝ch v deck˝ch pub- likací hypotézy, které nazna ují, ûe by antidepresiva, zejména pak selektivní inhibitory zp tného vychytávání serotoninu (SSRI), mohli vykazovat antivi- rové ú inky. Názory na pouûití antidepresiv jako jednu z moûn˝ch forem lé by COVID-19 se mezi v deck˝mi a léka sk˝mi profesionály v˝razn liöí. Diverzita názor je dále podn cována ast˝m v˝skytem vedlejöích ú ink spojen˝ch s uûíváním antidepresiv. Cílem této práce je zanalyzovat vliv SSRI na závaûnost COVID-19. Naöe anal˝za se konkrétn zam í na jedince, kte í antidepre- siva uûívají aktivn a pravideln . K posouzení efektu antidepresiv vyuûíváme ekonometrické metody, konkrétn logistickou regresi a zero-inflated negative binomial model. V˝sledky anal˝zy ukazují, ûe SSRI antidepresiva signifikantn zvyöují pravd podobnost úmrtí i hospitalizace v d sledku COVID-19. Tento efekt je statisticky v˝znamn˝, avöak jeho velikost je relativn malá. Anal˝za dále nazna uje, ûe vliv SSRI na o ekávan˝ po et dn stráven˝ch v nemocnici je statisticky nev˝znamn˝. Naöe v˝sledky tedy neprokazují, ûe by antidepresiva m la z dlouhodobého hlediska ochranné u inky proti COVID-19.

Recent medical research suggested that antidepressants, particularly Selec- tive Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), might potentially exhibit antiviral properties against COVID-19. The opinions about repurposing antidepressants as a form of COVID-19 treatment vary markedly among scientific and medical professionals, especially when one considers the wide range of side e ects that antidepressants may induce. The aim of this thesis is to examine the e ect of SSRIs on the severity of COVID-19. Our analysis will specifically target the individuals who use antidepressants actively and regularly, i.e., those who were not prescribed SSRIs intentionally due to COVID-19. To evaluate the impact of SSRIs, we will perform logistic regression and utilize the zero-inflated neg- ative binomial model. The results reveal a significant association between the use of SSRIs and increased probability of both hospitalisation and death due to COVID-19. The e ect is rather small, however, we find the e ect is statistically significant. Additionally, our analysis discovered no significant evidence that SSRIs a ect the length of hospital stay. Our results thereby do not support the hypothesis that SSRIs provide protective e ects against COVID-19 or function as a form of long-term preventive antiviral pharmaceuticals.