Abstract
Objective
To disentangle the pathophysiology of cognitive/affective impairment in Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), we studied long-term cognitive and affective sequelae and sleep high-density electroencephalography (EEG) at 12-month follow-up in people with a previous hospital admission for acute COVID-19.
Methods
People discharged from an intensive care unit (ICU) and a sub-intensive ward (nonICU) between March and May 2020 were contacted between March and June 2021. Participants underwent cognitive, psychological, and sleep assessment. High-density EEG recording was acquired during a nap. Slow and fast spindles density/amplitude/frequency and source reconstruction in brain gray matter were extracted. The relationship between psychological and cognitive findings was explored with Pearson correlation.
Results
We enrolled 33 participants ( 17 nonICU) and 12 controls. We observed a lower Physical Quality of Life index, higher post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) score, and a worse executive function performance in nonICU participants. Higher PTSD and Beck Depression Inventory scores correlated with lower executive performance. The same group showed a reorganization of spindle cortical generators.
Conclusions
Our results show executive and psycho-affective deficits and spindle alterations in COVID-19 survivors – especially in nonICU participants – after 12 months from discharge.
Significance
These findings may be suggestive of a crucial contribution of stress experienced during hospital admission on long-term cognitive functioning.
【저자키워드】 Long COVID-19, Electroencephalography, Neuropsychological assessment, Nap, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, intensive care, Stress, PTSD, discharge, Brain, ICU, coronavirus disease-2019, pathophysiology, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Hospital admission, Psychological, Follow-up, Quality, life, cognitive, Participants, Beck, alteration, participant, acute COVID-19, impairment, Pearson correlation, slow, survivor, high-density, objective, controls, inventory, Result, enrolled, correlated, discharged, cortical, affective, executive, Significance, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, Follow-up, cognitive, impairment, affective,