Study reveals link between childhood trauma & higher Covid hospitalisation rates

New Delhi, People with childhood trauma, like abuse or neglect, were more likely to be hospitalised or die from COVID-19 in adulthood, a new study has found. Analysing data of more than 1,51,200 (1.5 lakhs) adults of middle age or older in the UK, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, US, found that higher self-reported childhood adversity was linked to 12-25 per cent higher odds of COVID-19 hospitalisation and mortality.

The study is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The researchers said their findings highlighted how trauma early in life can have long-lasting impacts on health decades later.

"We know that COVID-19 is related to excessive hospitalization and death in the UK and in the United States. And there's emerging research finding that facing adversity, abuse or neglect, early in life, could have sizeable effects on physical health," said lead researcher Jamie L. Hanson, an assistant professor in psychology at the university.


"But no one had tried to connect these two trends. Knowing a bit more about someone's early development could be important to help reduce disparities in COVID-19," said Hanson.

The researchers said their findings show there could be a need for policies and interventions to lessen COVID-19 impacts in people who have suffered from such childhood adversity.

"We may need targeted interventions for individuals and certain communities affected by childhood adversity to lessen the pandemic's lasting impact," said Hanson.

"Adversity may lead to risk for negative outcomes and the potential to have long-COVID. We need to complete more work to understand how adversity gets 'under the skin' and increases vulnerability to poor health after COVID-19 infections," said Hanson.

Hanson and team said that their work opens the door for more pinpointed and global studies, the findings from which could be used "to limit adversity-related negative outcomes with future pandemics".