The landscape of cognitive function in recovered COVID-19 patients, 2020, Zhou et al

Dolphin · Jul 21, 2020

I thought this was an interesting study.

Free full text:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395620308542

The landscape of cognitive function in recovered COVID-19 patients

HetongZhoua1
ShaojiaLua1
JingkaiChena
NingWeia
DandanWanga
HailongLyua
ChuanShib
ShaohuaHua
a
Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Key Laboratory of Mental Disorder's Management of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Engineering Center for Mathematical Mental Health, Hangzhou, China
b
Institute of Mental Health, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Peking University Sixth Hospital, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Peking University, Beijing, China

Received 10 April 2020, Revised 20 June 2020, Accepted 25 June 2020, Available online 30 June 2020.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.06.022

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 on cognitive functions in recovered patients and its relationship with inflammatory profiles.

Twenty-nine patients recovered from COVID-19 as confirmed by negative nucleic tests for two consecutive times were recruited.

A total of 29 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls were also recruited.

The cognitive functions of all subjects were evaluated by the iPad-based online neuropsychological tests, including the Trail Making Test (TMT), Sign Coding Test (SCT), Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and Digital Span Test (DST).

Blood samples from all patients were collected for examining inflammatory profiles, including interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and C-reactive protein (CRP).

The relationship between cognitive functions and inflammatory profiles were analyzed by Pearson correlation.

In results, although no significant differences were found in TMT, SCT, and DST between the two groups, patients with COVID-19 scored lower in the correct number of the second and third parts of CPT, they also scored higher in the missing number of the third part of CPT (all P < 0.05).

In patients with COVID-19, there was a trend of significant difference for lower reaction time in the first and second parts of CPT (P = 0.050, and 0.051, respectively), as well as the lower correct number of the second part of CPT (P = 0.050).

Correlation analysis showed that the reaction time for the first and second parts of CPT was positively correlated with the CRP levels (r = 0.557 and 0.410, P < 0.05).

In conclusion, our findings indicated that cognitive impairments exist even in patients recovered from COVID-19, and might be possibly linked to the underlying inflammatory processes.
Click to expand...

Trish · Jul 21, 2020

They seem to have cherry picked a single significant result from a range of results on different tests all of which had an overlap between the outcome ranges of the patient and control groups. Combining that with a small sample of 29 patients and 29 controls, with some age and gender imbalance and no idea of the pre illness cognitive functions of the patient group, seems to me too small to draw conclusions.

Log in or Sign up

The landscape of cognitive function in recovered COVID-19 patients, 2020, Zhou et al

Dolphin Senior Member (Voting Rights)

Trish Moderator Staff Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

The landscape of cognitive function in recovered COVID-19 patients, 2020, Zhou et al

Dolphin Senior Member (Voting Rights)

Trish Moderator Staff Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches