Cognitive impairment one year after hospitalization due to COVID‐19 infection in Brazil: preliminary results.

Abstract

Background Persistence of symptoms or development of new symptoms after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is an increasingly recognized problem and the long‐term post‐COVID‐19 outcome and the effects on cognitive function remain poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the long‐term cognitive effects and impacts of COVID‐19 with a special focus on a population with low education and low socioeconomic status. Method Cross‐sectional cognitive assessment of participants with severe forms of Covid‐19 one year after hospital admission. Until now, 187 of 322 patients underwent TICS‐M for brief telephone cognitive screening one year after hospitalization for COVID‐19 in 3 public hospitals in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. This sample was divided into two groups according to scores on the TICS‐M screening test: with or without cognitive impairment. 26 participants were selected by convenience for neuropsychiatric assessment, namely 13 with abnormal TICS‐M scores (cases) and the other 13 controls. They were submitted to the following tests and scales: Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination‐Revised (ACE‐R), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT‐IR), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Impact of Events Scale‐Revised (IES‐R). Result There were no significant differences between groups for age, sex, educational level, need for intensive care unit or use of anticholinergics or sedatives. Although the comparison of SDMT between the groups showed no statistical difference (p = 0.999), all participants showed lower performance compared to normative data. Cases presented lower scores than controls in ACE‐R total (p = 0.034) and in the subdomains Attention and Orientation (p = 0.002), as well as in delayed total recall of the FCSRT‐IR (p = 0.039). Moreover, participants with lower HAD‐D scores had worst performance in Attention and Orientation subdomains of the ACE‐R (p = 0.003). Conclusion Our study shows impairment in global cognition, attention, orientation and episodic memory in individuals previously hospitalized for COVID‐19 infection who presented low scores on TICS‐M. Performance in processing speed tests was impaired among both groups in relation to normative data. Cognitive and mood analyses after COVID‐19 infection can provide information for improving healthcare of these individuals.