Research Article: Cognitive and other neuropsychiatric symptoms in COVID-19: analysis of person-generated longitudinal health data from a community-based registry
Abstract:
Objective To describe cognitive symptoms in people not hospitalised at study enrolment for SARS-CoV-2 infection and associated demographics, medical history, other neuropsychiatric symptoms and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Design Longitudinal observational study. Setting Direct-to-participant registry with community-based recruitment via email and social media including Google, Facebook and Reddit, targeting adult US residents. Demographics, medical history, COVID-19-like symptoms, tests and vaccinations were collected through enrolment and follow-up surveys. Participants Participants who reported positive COVID-19 test results between 15 December 2020 and 13 December 2021. Those with cognitive symptoms were compared with those not reporting such symptoms. Main outcome measure Self-reported cognitive symptoms (defined as ‘feeling disoriented or having trouble thinking’ from listed options or related written-in symptoms) Results Of 3908 participants with a positive COVID-19 test result, 1014 (25.9%) reported cognitive symptoms at any time point during enrolment or follow-up, with approximately half reporting moderate/severe symptoms. Cognitive symptoms were associated with other neuropsychiatric symptoms, including dysgeusia, anosmia, trouble waking up, insomnia, headache, anxiety and depression. In multivariate analyses, female sex (OR, 95% CI): 1.7 (1.3 to 2.2), age (40–49 years (OR: 1.5 (1.2–1.9) compared with 18–29 years), history of autoimmune disease (OR: 1.5 (1.2–2.1)), lung disease (OR: 1.7 (1.3–2.2)) and depression (OR: 1.4 (1.1–1.7)) were associated with cognitive symptoms. Conversely, black race (OR: 0.6 (0.5–0.9)) and COVID-19 vaccination before infection (OR: 0.6 (0.4–0.7)) were associated with reduced occurrence of cognitive symptoms. Conclusions In this study, cognitive symptoms among COVID-19-positive participants were associated with female gender, age, autoimmune disorders, lung disease and depression. Vaccination and black race were associated with lower occurrence of cognitive symptoms. A constellation of neuropsychiatric and psychological symptoms occurred with cognitive symptoms. Our findings suggest COVID-19’s full health and economic burden may be underestimated. Trial registration number NCT04368065 .
Introduction:
Cognitive symptoms such as brain fog have been reported in significant proportions of hospitalised and non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19 and are often described as long-term postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or ‘long COVID-19’. 1 Less is known about long-term consequences for the brain and factors associated with developing cognitive symptoms. There are concerns that damage to the central nervous system may be permanent, potentially increasing or accelerating the development of neurological…
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