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. 2022 Jul:152:77-97.
doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.04.006. Epub 2022 Apr 18.

COVID-19 associated cognitive impairment: A systematic review

José W L Tavares-Júnior  1 , Ana C C de Souza  2 , José W P Borges  3 , Danilo N Oliveira  4 , José I Siqueira-Neto  5 , Manoel A Sobreira-Neto  6 , Pedro Braga-Neto  7
Affiliations

COVID-19 associated cognitive impairment: A systematic review

José W L Tavares-Júnior et al. Cortex. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 has a wide range of clinical manifestations. Neurological manifestations in COVID-19 patients were demonstrated during the pandemic, including cognitive impairment. This study aimed to determine any relationship between COVID-19 and cognitive complaints, such as dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or subjective cognitive decline (SCD).

Methods: We performed a systematic review of MEDLINE via Ebsco, Cochrane EMBASE, SCOPUS, and LILACS electronic databases of observational studies with COVID-19 patients confirmed by serology or PCR who developed new cognitive impairment or deteriorated from previous cognitive impairment after infection. This review protocol was recorded on PROSPERO with registration number CRD 42021241590.

Results: A total of 3.520 articles were retrieved and read. Twenty-two studies were selected for our review. A wide range of cognitive assessment tools (n = 25) was used. The most described affected domains in these studies were executive functions, attention, and episodic memory. Thirteen studies showed a pattern of cognitive impairment in processing speed, inattention, or executive dysfunction assessed through working memory.

Conclusion: This review highlights the high frequency of cognitive impairment after COVID-19 infection. However, we were unable to differentiate whether the cognitive impairment found corresponded to mild cognitive impairment or dementia through data from selected studies, and this issue serves as one objective of future studies to be addressed on this topic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cognitive impairment; Dementia; Risk factor; SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest One of the authors (Pedro Braga Neto) received funding from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) as research grant funding and from the Brazilian Funding Grant Number 88881.505364/2020-01 from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES). José Wagner Leonel Tavares Júnior, Ana Célia Caetano de Souza, José Wicto Pereira Borges, Danilo Nunes Oliveira, José Ibiapina Siqueira Neto, Manoel Alves Sobreira Neto declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the study selection process.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Risk of bias graph: review authors' judgements about each risk of bias item presented as percentages across all included studies (above). Risk of bias summary: review authors' judgements about each risk of bias item for each included study (below).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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