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. 2022 Jan;34(1):257-260.
doi: 10.1007/s40520-021-02042-3. Epub 2022 Jan 11.

Premorbid vulnerability and disease severity impact on Long-COVID cognitive impairment

Viviana Cristillo  1 , Andrea Pilotto  2 , Stefano Cotti Piccinelli  2 , Giulio Bonzi  2 , Antonio Canale  3 , Stefano Gipponi  2 , Michela Bezzi  4 , Matilde Leonardi  5 , Alessandro Padovani  2 ; Neuro Covid Next Study group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Premorbid vulnerability and disease severity impact on Long-COVID cognitive impairment

Viviana Cristillo et al. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Cognitive deficits have been increasingly reported as possible long-term manifestations after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Aims: In this study we aimed at evaluating the factors associated with cognitive deficits 6 months after hospitalization for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: One hundred and six patients, discharged from a pneumology COVID-19 unit between March 1 and May 30 2020, accepted to be evaluated at 6 months according to an extensive neurological protocol, including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

Results: Abnormal MoCA scores at 6 months follow-up were associated with higher pre-hospitalization National Health System (NHS) score (Duca et al. in Emerg Med Pract 22:1-2, 2020) (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.05-1.6; p = 0.029) and more severe pulmonary disease expressed by the Brescia-COVID Respiratory Severity Scale (Duca et al. in Emerg Med Pract 22:1-2, 2020) (BCRSS > 1OR 4.73; 95% CI 1.53-14.63; p = 0.003) during the acute phase of the disease.

Discussion: This longitudinal study showed that the severity of COVID-19, indicated by BCRSS, and a complex score given by age and premorbid medical conditions, expressed by NHS, play a major role in modulating the long-term cognitive consequences of COVID-19 disease.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that the association of age and premorbid factors might identify people at risk for long-term neurological consequences of COVID-19 disease, thus deserving longer and proper follow-up.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cognitive functions; Long-COVID; Neurology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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