Neurocognitive and Neuropsychiatric Sequelae in Long COVID-19 Infection

To characterize the cognitive profile of long COVID-19 subjects and its possible association with clinical symptoms, emotional disturbance, biomarkers, and disease severity. We performed a single-center cross-sectional cohort study. Subjects between 20 and 60 years old with confirmed COVID-19 infect...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Almeria, Marta|||0000-0001-7445-6113, Cejudo, Juan Carlos|||0000-0001-6355-8499, Deus Yela, Juan|||0000-0002-3305-2662, Krupinski, Jerzy|||0000-0002-5136-8898
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:299031
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/299031
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/brainsci14060604
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Long COVID-19
Neurocognitive sequelae
Persistent symptoms
Descripción
Sumario:To characterize the cognitive profile of long COVID-19 subjects and its possible association with clinical symptoms, emotional disturbance, biomarkers, and disease severity. We performed a single-center cross-sectional cohort study. Subjects between 20 and 60 years old with confirmed COVID-19 infection were included. The assessment was performed 6 months following hospital or ambulatory discharge. Excluded were those with prior neurocognitive impairment and severe neurological/neuropsychiatric disorders. Demographic and laboratory data were extracted from medical records. Altogether, 108 participants were included, 64 were male (59.25%), and the mean age was 49.10 years. The patients were classified into four groups: non-hospitalized (NH, n = 10), hospitalized without Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or oxygen therapy (HOSPI, n = 21), hospitalized without ICU but with oxygen therapy (OXY, n = 56), and ICU (ICU, n = 21) patients. In total, 38 (35.18%) reported Subjective Cognitive Complaints (SCC). No differences were found considering illness severity between groups. Females had more persistent clinical symptoms and SCC than males. Persistent dyspnea and headache were associated with higher scores in anxiety and depression. Persistent fatigue, anxiety, and depression were associated with worse overall cognition. No cognitive impairment was found regarding the severity of post-COVID-19 infection. SCC was not associated with a worse cognitive performance, but with higher anxiety and depression. Persistent clinical symptoms were frequent independent of illness severity. Fatigue, anxiety, and depression were linked to poorer cognitive function. Tests for attention, processing speed, and executive function were the most sensitive in detecting cognitive changes in these patients.