Browsing by Author "Salo, Tuuli"

Objective: COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus may result in long-term symptoms in some patients. Based on the definition of WHO, long covid is a condition usually occurring three months after the infection with symptoms lasting at least two months. Some patients also develop cognitive symptoms, particularly deficits in attention and executive functions. This study aimed to explore the association between long covid and cognition six months after the acute phase of the disease. The purpose was to determine whether the long-term symptoms are connected to total cognitive score and three domains: attention, executive functions, and memory. Methods: The data of this study were gathered as a part of the RECOVID-20 project of University of Helsinki and Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS). The subjects (N = 152, 84 women, mean age 54.3) required different level of care in the acute phase of the COVID-19 disease: intensive care, regular ward care, or no hospital care. The subjects were divided into two groups, those who had long-covid symptoms with impact on everyday functioning (N = 56), and those who did not (N = 96), based on a telephone interview three months after the acute phase. Six months after the acute phase, the patients underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. The associations of long-term symptoms with total cognitive score and three domains were analyzed using a general linear model. Results and conclusions: The long-term symptoms were not associated with either total cognitive score or the three domains. The interval of patient examination for long-term cognitive impairment in previous studies was not as extensive as in this study. Moreover, the previous studies did not include patients with a milder form of the disease. Thus, this study brings new and important information on long covid. However, more research is needed better to understand long covid and its long-term implications.