neuropsychiatric manifestations of covid-19 in hospitalized pediatrics: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Background: the large proportion of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) patients has been associated with a large number of neuropsychiatric manifestations. despite the high prevalence of covid-19, few studies have examined such manifestations, especially in children and adolescents. objectives: this study investigated neuropsychiatric manifestations in hospitalized children and adolescents admitted for covid-19 infection in iran. methods: this prospective observational study included admitted children and adolescents (4 - 18 years old) diagnosed with covid-19 infection, pediatric neurologists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and infectious disease specialists, and assessed 375 infected patients during august and december 2021. results: of the 375 patients, 176 (47%) were female, with a mean age of 9.0 ± 3.39 years. psychiatric and neurological manifestations were reported in 58 (15.5%) and 58 (15.5%) patients, respectively. the most prevalent psychiatric disorders were separation anxiety disorder (sad) (5.1%), major depressive disorder (mdd) (3.5%), generalized anxiety disorder (gad) (2.7%), insomnia (2.4%), and oppositional defiant disorder (odd) (2.4%). regarding neurological complications, seizures were the most prevalent (13.1%), followed by encephalitis (1.9%), transverse myelitis (0.3%), acute ischemic stroke (0.3%), and guillain-barre syndrome (0.3%). there was no significant relationship between the duration of covid-19 infection (p = 0.54) and icu admission (p = 0.44) with the emergence of psychiatric symptoms. conclusions: the most prevalent neurologic and psychiatric complications among children and adolescents with covid-19 infection were seizures and the symptoms of anxiety/mood disorders, respectively.