System Maintenance Notice

Please note that maintenance work is scheduled between 4 AM and 5 AM - CET. During this time, you may experience reduced performance. Thanks for your patience.

Publications

Journal Article Ppublish 39 citations

PubMed: 36549172 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103409

Long term neuropsychiatric consequences in COVID-19 survivors: Cognitive impairment and inflammatory underpinnings fifteen months after discharge.

Asian J Psychiatr 80:103409

Authors: Danmei He, Minlan Yuan, Wen Dang, Lin Bai, Runnan Yang, Jingyi Wang, Yao Ma, Bo Liu, Shiyu Liu, Simai Zhang, Xiao Liao, Wei Zhang

Affiliations

  • Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; West China Biomedical Big Data Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Med-X Center for Informatics, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
  • Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Huaxi Brain Research Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
  • Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
  • West China Biomedical Big Data Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Med-X Center for Informatics, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
  • Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; West China Biomedical Big Data Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Med-X Center for Informatics, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Huaxi Brain Research Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Emerging evidence shows that cognitive dysfunction may occur following coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infection which is one of the most common symptoms reported in researches of "Long COVID". Several inflammatory markers are known to be elevated in COVID-19 survivors and the relationship between long-term inflammation changes and cognitive function remains unknown.

METHODS

We assessed cognitive function and neuropsychiatric symptoms of 66 COVID-19 survivors and 79 healthy controls (HCs) matched with sex, age, and education level using a digital, gamified cognitive function evaluation tool and questionnaires at 15 months after discharge. Venous blood samples were collected to measure cytokine levels. We performed correlation analyses and multiple linear regression analysis to identify the factors potentially related to cognitive function.

RESULTS

The COVID-19 survivors performed less well on the Trails (p = 0.047) than the HCs, but most of them did not report subjective neuropsychiatric symptoms. Intensive care unit experience (β = -2.247, p < 0.0001) and self-perceived disease severity (β = -1.522, p = 0.007) were positively correlated, whereas years of education (β = 0.098, p = 0.013) was negatively associated with the performance on the Trails. Moreover, the abnormally elevated TNF-α levels (r = -0.19, p = 0.040) were negatively correlated with performance on the Trails in COVID-19 group.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that COVID-19 survivors show long-term cognitive impairment in executive function, even at 15 months after discharge. Serum TNF-α levels may be an underlying mechanism of long-term cognitive impairment in patients recovering from COVID-19.

MeSH

Cognitive Dysfunction, Signs And Symptoms, Covid-19, Cognition Disorders, Education, Cognition

Cited by