Problems thinking straight in 1st 4 weeks of COVID-19 may mean long COVID is more likely

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-05-06 01:00

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US scientists asked 766 COVID-19 patients whether they had any perceived cognitive deficits in the first four weeks of infection, and found those who had were more likely to develop long COVID than patients who reported no cognitive symptoms. These cognitive deficits included trouble getting things organised, trouble concentrating on activities such as watching TV or reading a book, and forgetting what they were talking about during a phone conversation. Cognitive issues were reported by 276 of the patients, who the scientists found were twice as likely as patients with no cognitive symptoms to report long COVID symptoms at 60 - 90 days post-infection. The findings suggest that psychiatric or mood issues play a role in the development of long COVID, the team says.

Media release

From: JAMA

Perceived Cognitive Deficits in Patients With SARS-CoV-2 and Their Association With Long COVID

About The Study: The findings of this study of 766 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection suggest that patient-reported perceived cognitive deficits in the first 4 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection are associated with post–COVID-19 condition (PCC; colloquially known as long COVID) symptoms and that there may be an affective component to PCC in some patients. The underlying reasons for PCC merit additional exploration.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of California, Los Angeles, USA

Funder: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Science of the National Institutes of Health under the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute grant number UL1TR001881.

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