The first older COVID-19 patients are experiencing higher levels of cognitive decline

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-03-09 03:00

International

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COVID-19 patients over 60 who caught the virus in Wuhan early in the pandemic are experiencing higher rates of cognitive decline, according to a study comparing them with their uninfected spouses. International researchers recruited 1438 early COVID-19 patients and 438 uninfected participants to undergo cognitive testing six months and then a year after the COVID-19 patients were infected. Conducting telephone interviews aimed at testing their brain function, the researchers say those who had COVID-19 had lower scores than their uninfected counterparts at both six and 12 months, and those who had severe COVID-19 scored lower than those who had a milder COVID-19 infection.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Neurology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Third Military Medical University, China

Funder: This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81930028 to Dr YJWang, 81971024 to Dr Liu).

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