An Unsupervised Cluster Analysis of Post-COVID-19 Mental Health Outcomes and Associated Comorbidities

AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2023 Apr 29:2022:289-298. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be widespread, and little is known about mental health impacts from dealing with the disease itself. This retrospective study used a deidentified health information exchange (HIE) dataset of electronic health record data from the state of Rhode Island and characterized different subgroups of the positive COVID-19 population. Three different clustering methods were explored to identify patterns of condition groupings in this population. Increased incidence of mental health conditions was seen post-COVID-19 diagnosis, and these individuals exhibited higher prevalence of comorbidities compared to the negative control group. A self-organizing map cluster analysis showed patterns of mental health conditions in half of the clusters. One mental health cluster revealed a higher comorbidity index and higher severity of COVID-19 disease. The clinical features identified in this study motivate the need for more in-depth analysis to predict and identify individuals at high risk for developing mental illness post-COVID-19 diagnosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 Testing
  • COVID-19*
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Comorbidity
  • Humans
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Pandemics
  • Retrospective Studies