Neuropsychological Measures of Long COVID-19 Fog in Older Subjects

Alessandra Lauria; Angelo Carfì; Francesca Benvenuto; Giulia Bramato; Francesca Ciciarello; Sara Rocchi; Elisabetta Rota; Andrea Salerno; Leonardo Stella; Marcello Tritto; Antonella Di Paola; Cristina Pais; Matteo Tosato; Delfina Janiri; Gabriele Sani; Francesco Cosimo Pagano; Massimo Fantoni; Roberto Bernabei; Francesco Landi; Alessandra Bizzarro; Gemelli Against COVID-19 Post-acute Care Study Group

doi:10.1016/j.cger.2022.05.003

Neuropsychological Measures of Long COVID-19 Fog in Older Subjects

Clin Geriatr Med. 2022 Aug;38(3):593-603. doi: 10.1016/j.cger.2022.05.003. Epub 2022 May 8.

Authors

Alessandra Lauria¹, Angelo Carfì², Francesca Benvenuto¹, Giulia Bramato¹, Francesca Ciciarello¹, Sara Rocchi¹, Elisabetta Rota¹, Andrea Salerno¹, Leonardo Stella¹, Marcello Tritto¹, Antonella Di Paola¹, Cristina Pais¹, Matteo Tosato¹, Delfina Janiri¹, Gabriele Sani¹, Francesco Cosimo Pagano¹, Massimo Fantoni¹, Roberto Bernabei¹, Francesco Landi¹, Alessandra Bizzarro¹; Gemelli Against COVID-19 Post-acute Care Study Group¹

Affiliations

¹ Gemelli Against COVID-19 Post-acute Care Study Group, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo F. Vito 1, Rome 00168, Italy.
² Gemelli Against COVID-19 Post-acute Care Study Group, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo F. Vito 1, Rome 00168, Italy. Electronic address: angelo.carfi@policlinicogemelli.it.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 is known to impact older people more severely and to cause persistent symptoms during the recovery phase, including cognitive and neurologic ones. We investigated the cognitive and neurologic features of 100 elderly patients with confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 evaluated in the postacute phase through a direct neuropsychological evaluation consisting on Mini Mental State Examination and 8 neuropsychological tests. Overall, a total of 33 participants were found to perform at a level considered to be pathologic; more specifically, 33%, 23%, and 20% failed on Trial Making, Digit Span Backwards, and Frontal Evaluation Battery tests, respectively.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; Elderly; Long COVID.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19* / complications
Humans
Neuropsychological Tests
Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome