Mild cognitive impairment in COVID-19 survivors: Measuring the brain fog

Abstract

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been impacting individuals throughout the world. Millions have been affected, and while many have recovered, a growing number of recovered COVID-19 patients are reportedly facing neurological symptoms, described as “slow thinking,” “difficulty in focusing,” “confusion,” “lack of concentration,” “forgetfulness,” or “haziness in thought process.” These experiences of mental fatigue, associated with and related to mild cognitive impairments, may be conceptually defined as “brain fog.” Objective To study the prevalence and severity of these brain fog symptoms in COVID-19 recovered patients, and examining their association with age, gender, and COVID-19 symptom severity. Methods A total of 300 patients who tested positive for Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase–Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) for SARSCoV-2 during April–August 2020 were included in our study after complete recovery from their acute illness. They were assessed for brain fog symptoms using the 9-item validated Wood’s mental fatigue inventory. Results/Conclusions The overall cumulative prevalence of any components of brain fog was 34%, with a mean score of 6.11 ± 1.7 in those who experienced it. Males were more affected than females (42.3% vs. 29.1%) with males scoring higher than females. The mean score was higher in severe ill and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients and those who required oxygen or were on a ventilator.