Nature Communications (Sep 2024)
Mental illness and COVID-19 vaccination: a multinational investigation of observational & register-based data
- Mary M. Barker,
- Kadri Kõiv,
- Ingibjörg Magnúsdóttir,
- Hannah Milbourn,
- Bin Wang,
- Xinkai Du,
- Gillian Murphy,
- Eva Herweijer,
- Elísabet U. Gísladóttir,
- Huiqi Li,
- Anikó Lovik,
- Anna K. Kähler,
- Archie Campbell,
- Maria Feychting,
- Arna Hauksdóttir,
- Emily E. Joyce,
- Edda Bjork Thordardottir,
- Emma M. Frans,
- Asle Hoffart,
- Reedik Mägi,
- Gunnar Tómasson,
- Kristjana Ásbjörnsdóttir,
- Jóhanna Jakobsdóttir,
- Ole A. Andreassen,
- Patrick F. Sullivan,
- Sverre Urnes Johnson,
- Thor Aspelund,
- Ragnhild Eek Brandlistuen,
- Helga Ask,
- Daniel L. McCartney,
- Omid V. Ebrahimi,
- Kelli Lehto,
- Unnur A. Valdimarsdóttir,
- Fredrik Nyberg,
- Fang Fang
Affiliations
- Mary M. Barker
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Kadri Kõiv
- Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu
- Ingibjörg Magnúsdóttir
- Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland
- Hannah Milbourn
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh
- Bin Wang
- PsychGen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Xinkai Du
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
- Gillian Murphy
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Eva Herweijer
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Elísabet U. Gísladóttir
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Huiqi Li
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg
- Anikó Lovik
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Anna K. Kähler
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Archie Campbell
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh
- Maria Feychting
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Arna Hauksdóttir
- Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland
- Emily E. Joyce
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Edda Bjork Thordardottir
- Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland
- Emma M. Frans
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet
- Asle Hoffart
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
- Reedik Mägi
- Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu
- Gunnar Tómasson
- Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland
- Kristjana Ásbjörnsdóttir
- Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland
- Jóhanna Jakobsdóttir
- Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland
- Ole A. Andreassen
- NORMENT Centre, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo
- Patrick F. Sullivan
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet
- Sverre Urnes Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
- Thor Aspelund
- Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland
- Ragnhild Eek Brandlistuen
- Department of Child Health and Development, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Helga Ask
- PsychGen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- Daniel L. McCartney
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh
- Omid V. Ebrahimi
- PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
- Kelli Lehto
- Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu
- Unnur A. Valdimarsdóttir
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- Fredrik Nyberg
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg
- Fang Fang
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52342-1
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 15,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 13
Abstract
Abstract Individuals with mental illness are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. However, previous studies on the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in this population have reported conflicting results. Using data from seven cohort studies (N = 325,298) included in the multinational COVIDMENT consortium, and the Swedish registers (N = 8,080,234), this study investigates the association between mental illness (defined using self-report measures, clinical diagnosis and prescription data) and COVID-19 vaccination uptake. Results from the COVIDMENT cohort studies were pooled using meta-analyses, the majority of which showed no significant association between mental illness and vaccination uptake. In the Swedish register study population, we observed a very small reduction in the uptake of both the first and second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine among individuals with vs. without mental illness; the reduction was however greater among those not using psychiatric medication. Here we show that uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine is generally high among individuals both with and without mental illness, however the lower levels of vaccination uptake observed among subgroups of individuals with unmedicated mental illness warrants further attention.