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 effects that antidepressants may induce. The aim of this thesis is to examine the effect 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 effect is rather small, however, we find the effect is statistically significant. Additionally, our analysis discovered no significant evidence that SSRIs affect the length of hospital stay. Our results thereby do not support the hypothesis that SSRIs provide protective effects against COVID-19 or function as a form of long-term preventive antiviral pharmaceuticals.