Describing cognitive function and psychosocial outcomes of COVID-19 survivors: A cross-sectional analysis.
Ashley M Henneghan, Kimberly A Lewis, Eliana Gill and 4 others
PMID 34469360WHAT IT FOUND
Cognitive test scores were normal on average in 52 mostly mild to moderate COVID survivors, but 40% scored below the normal range for their age and education on at least one cognitive test.
Some had more anxiety, depression, or sleep problems than the general population.
Key findings
01Remote cognitive and psychosocial testing was feasible: 52 participants completed all data collection after 57 agreed to take part.
02Mean cognitive test scores were within the normal range, but 40% of participants had at least one score at least one standard deviation below the population norm.
03Some participants reported more anxiety, depressive symptoms, or sleep disturbance than the general population norm: 21.15%, 23.07%, and 19.23%, respectively.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
There was no pre-COVID baseline, so the study cannot tell whether thinking or mood problems started after infection. There was no matched non-COVID control group, so pandemic stress, isolation, or other factors could explain the symptoms. Only 52 people completed the study, and they were voluntary responders, so the sample may not represent all COVID survivors. Most participants were female, White, and college-educated, and most had mild or moderate illness, so results may not apply to older, more diverse, or severely ill patients. Cognitive tests were completed unsupervised online, which can give different results than tests administered by trained clinicians. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that COVID-19 caused the symptoms. The sample was small, so comparisons by age, sex, race, illness severity, and time since diagnosis were limited.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that COVID-19 caused these cognitive or psychosocial problems. The study had no pre-COVID baseline and no matched non-COVID control group, and it was cross-sectional, so it only describes symptoms in survivors at one time point.