Effect of oxygen therapy duration on cognitive impairment 12 months after hospitalization for SARS-COV-2 infection.
Amandine Rapin, Arnaud Calmus, Charles Pradeau and 5 others
PMID 37974332WHAT IT FOUND
Shorter oxygen therapy during acute hospitalization predicted persistent cognitive impairment at 1 year.
A Mini-Mental State Examination score below 28 at 3 months also flagged this risk, though patients often lacked awareness of their deficits.
Key findings
01Duration of oxygen therapy in the acute phase was significantly associated with persistent cognitive impairment at 1 year, with longer exposure appearing protective.
02A Mini-Mental State Examination score of less than 28 points at 3 months post-infection had 76% sensitivity and 63% specificity for detecting persistent cognitive impairment at 1 year.
03There was no association between the presence of persisting cognitive impairment at 12 months and self-reported cognitive complaints by the patients.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study had no control group, so it is unclear if the rates of cognitive impairment were higher than expected in a non-COVID hospitalized population. The sample was small (56 patients) and recruited from a single center, limiting generalizability. The population was selected for severe infection requiring hospitalization, so findings may not apply to those with milder disease. The study did not assess functional status or the impact of cognitive impairment on daily living activities. The association between oxygen therapy duration and cognitive outcome is observational; it does not prove that oxygen therapy prevents cognitive impairment.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that longer oxygen therapy prevents cognitive impairment. The study shows an association in a retrospective cohort without a control group, and cannot prove causation or rule out that patients who needed oxygen longer had different underlying severity profiles.