| Literature DB >> 35169789 |
Karen Blackmon1, Gregory S Day2, Harry Ross Powers3, Wendelyn Bosch3, Divya Prabhakaran4, Dixie Woolston5, Otto Pedraza1.
Abstract
Background and purpose Cognitive complaints are common in patients recovering from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), yet their etiology is often unclear. We assess factors that contribute to cognitive impairment in ambulatory versus hospitalized patients during the sub-acute stage of recovery. Methods Participants were prospectively recruited from a hospital-wide registry. All patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection using a real-time reverse transcriptase polymerasechain-reaction assay. Patients ≤ 18 years-of-age and those with a pre-existing major neurocognitive disorder were excluded. Participants completed an extensive neuropsychological questionnaire and a computerized cognitive screen via remote telemedicine platform. Rates of subjective and objective neuropsychological impairment were compared between the ambulatory and hospitalized groups. Factors associated with impairment were explored separately within each group. Results A total of 102 patients (76 ambulatory, 26 hospitalized) completed the symptom inventory and neurocognitive tests 24 ± 22 days following laboratory confirmation of SARSCoV-2 infection. Hospitalized and ambulatory patients self-reported high rates of cognitive impairment (27-40%), without differences between the groups. However, hospitalized patients showed higher rates of objective impairment in visual memory (30% vs. 4%; p=0.001) and psychomotor speed (41% vs. 15%; p=0.008). Objective cognitive test performance was associated with anxiety, depression, fatigue, and pain in the ambulatory but not the hospitalized group. Conclusions Focal cognitive deficits are more common in hospitalized than ambulatory patients. Cognitive performance is associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms in ambulatory but not hospitalized patients. Objective neurocognitive measures can provide essential information to inform neurologic triage and should be included as endpoints in clinical trials.Entities:
Year: 2022 PMID: 35169789 PMCID: PMC8845509 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1127420/v1
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Res Sq
Neurocognitive Test Domains.
| Domain Score | Description |
|---|---|
| Neurocognitive Index (NCI) | Composite of the six neurocognitive domains described below. |
| Verbal Memory (VerM) | 15 target words presented visually, one at a time every 2 seconds, followed immediately by yes/no recognition testing of 15 targets and 15 foils. 15 targets and 15 new foils are presented again after a distraction-filled delay. Correct hits and correct misses are totaled across the immediate and delayed trials. |
| Visual Memory (VisM) | 15 target geometric figures presented visually, one at a time every 2 seconds, followed immediately by yes/no recognition testing of 15 targets and 15 foils. 15 targets and 15 new foils are presented again after a distraction-filled delay. Correct hits and correct misses are totaled across the immediate and delayed trials. |
| Psychomotor Speed (PS) | Total of right and left taps (in 10 s) from the finger tapping test and total correct responses (in 120 s) from the symbol digit coding test. |
| Reaction Time (RT) | Average of the two complex reaction time scores from the Stroop test (from the congruent and incongruent trials). |
| Complex Attention (CA) | Sum of errors from the continuous performance test, shifting attention test, and the Stroop test. |
| Cognitive Flexibility (CF) | Number of correct responses on the shifting attention test minus the number of errors on the shifting attention test and Stroop test. |
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort
| Overall (N=102) | Ambulatory (N=76) | Hospitalized (N= 26) |
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 52.21 (14.83) | 50.41 (14.52) | 57.46 (14.72) | 0.04 | |
| 15.78 (2.45 | 16.06 (2.37) | 14.96 (2.53) | 0.06 | |
| 0.49 | ||||
| Males | 44 (43%) | 31 (41%) | 13 (50%) | |
| Females | 58 (57%) | 45 (59%) | 13 (50%) | |
| 0.03 | ||||
| American Indian | 0 (0 %) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Asian | 5 (5%) | 2 (3%) | 3 (12%) | |
| Native Hawaiian | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Black | 9 (9%) | 4 (5%) | 5 (19%) | |
| White | 87 (85%) | 69 (91%) | 18 (69%) | |
| More than one race | 1 (1%) | 1 (1%) | 0 (0%) | |
| 0.20 | ||||
| Hispanic | 8 (8%) | 4 (5%) | 4 (15%) | |
| Non-Hispanic | 94 (92%) | 72 (95%) | 22 (85%) | |
| <0.044 | ||||
| 0-2 Points: Low Risk | 69 (68%) | 56 (74%) | 13 (50%) | |
| 3-5 Points: Medium Risk | 30 (29%) | 19 (25%) | 11 (42%) | |
| >=6 Points: High Risk | 3 (3%) | 1 (1.3%) | 2 (8%) | |
| <0.001 | ||||
| Asymptomatic | 11 (11%) | 11 (15%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Mild – No Hypoxia | 67 (65%) | 65 (85%) | 2 (8%) | |
| Moderate - Pneumonia | 4 (4%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (15%) | |
| Severe - Pneumonia | 17 (17%) | 0 (0%) | 17 (65%) | |
| Critical - ARDS | 3 (3%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (12%) | |
| Critical - Sepsis | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | |
| 0.002 | ||||
| no | 66 (67%) | 55 (75%) | 11 (42%) | |
| yes | 33 (33%) | 18 (25%) | 15 (58%) | |
| 0.015 | ||||
| no | 86 (87%) | 67 (92%) | 19 (73%) | |
| yes | 13 (13%) | 6 (8%) | 7 (27%) | |
| 0.011 | ||||
| no | 89 (90%) | 69 (95%) | 20 (77%) | |
| yes | 10 (10%) | 4 (5%) | 6 (23%) | |
| 0.046 | ||||
| no | 87 (88%) | 67 (92%) | 20 (77%) | |
| yes | 12 (12%) | 6 (8%) | 6 (23%) | |
| 0.953 | ||||
| no | 95 (96%) | 70 (96%) | 25 (96%) | |
| yes | 4 (4%) | 3 (4%) | 1 (4%) | |
| 0.309 | ||||
| no | 73 (73%) | 56 (76%) | 17 (65%) | |
| yes | 27 (27%) | 18 (24%) | 9 (35%) | |
| 0.040 | ||||
| Never Smoked | 72 (71%) | 57 (75%) | 15 (58%) | |
| Past or Current Smoker | 26 (25%) | 15 (20%) | 11 (42%) | |
| Unknown/Refused | 4 (4%) | 4 (5%) | 0 (0%) | |
Figure 1.Subjective symptom severity ratings on a self-report inventory. Ambulatory (Amb) patients did not differ in symptom severity ratings from patients who required hospitalization (Hosp) for COVID-19. Amb=ambulatory; Hosp=hospitalized.
Figure 2.Rates of objective impairment on neurocognitive testing. Patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 shower higher rates of impairment in visual memory and psychomotor speed compared with patients who remained ambulatory. Impairment was defined by age-adjusted standardized scores <9th percentile (red dashed line = 9%). Asterisk indicates p-value < 0.05.
Figure 3.Higher subjective complaints of anxiety, depression, fatigue, and pain are associated with lower objective neurocognitive performance in ambulatory, but not hospitalized, patients.
Figure 4.Flow diagram to guide decision-making when patients present with cognitive complaints in the post-acute recovery stage following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Prevalence of cognitive impairment during recovery from COVID-19
| Impaired (< 9th percentile), n (%) | Odds ratio (95% CI) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (N=102) | Ambulatory (N=76) | Hospitalized (N= 26) | Hospitalized vs Ambulatory | |
| Neurocognitive Index | 9 (12%) | 6 (10%) | 3 (17%) | 1.18 (0.22-6.44) |
| Verbal Memory | 20 (20%) | 12 (16%) | 8 (32%) | 2.39 (0.84-6.79 |
| Visual Memory | 10 (10%) | 3 (4%) | 7 (30%) | 10.21 (2.38-43.85) |
| Psychomotor Speed | 20 (11%) | 11 (15%) | 9 (41%) | 2.63 (0.82-8.40) |
| Reaction Time | 10 (11%) | 6 (9%) | 4 (18%) | 2.22 (0.56-8.75) |
| Complex Attention | 9 (11%) | 6 (10%) | 3 (15%) | 1.62 (0.37-7.12) |
| Cognitive Flexibility | 16 (19%) | 11 (17%) | 5 (25%) | 1.58 (0.47-5.25) |