ArticleGeneral hospital psychiatry
Screening for brain fog: Is the montreal cognitive assessment an effective screening tool for neurocognitive complaints post-COVID-19?
Article in General hospital psychiatry. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Towards a Neurocognitive Profile of Post-Acute COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study Integrating Subjective Complaints and Computerized Cognitive Testing.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Designing studies for post-treatment Lyme disease and other infection-associated chronic illnesses.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Review
- The Montreal Cognitive Assessment at the Framingham Heart Study: A Re-Examination of the Norms.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Psychopathological, neuropsychological and sociodemographic description of the population using a post-COVID outpatient clinic: results from the 2Long4COVID BLOOD study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Rethinking measurement of health outcomes in Long COVID: complexities, challenges and considerations.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2026Article
- Autonomic dysfunction and quality of life in a cohort of neurology outpatients with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, a two-year follow-up study.Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia · 2026Article
- Neurocognitive and Psychiatric Outcomes Following Mild to Moderate COVID-19: A Longitudinal Comparison of Alpha/Delta and Omicron Variants.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Article
- Evidence for a severe cognitive subgroup in a comprehensive neuropsychological Post-COVID-19 syndrome classification.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Validity of the test for attentional performance in neurological post-COVID condition.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Clinical Phenotyping of Long COVID Patients Evaluated in a Specialized Neuro-COVID Clinic.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2025Article
- Analysis of the A-B Neuropsychological Assessment Schedule as a Cognitive Screener for Long COVID.Cureus · 2025Article
- How Are Brain Fog Symptoms Related to Diet, Sleep, Mood and Gastrointestinal Health? A Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Exploring the experiences of cognitive symptoms in Long COVID: a mixed-methods study in the UK.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Brain Fog and Cognitive Dysfunction in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Evidence-Based Review.Psychology research and behavior management · 2025Review
- Anti-neuronal and anti-mitochondrial autoantibodies are associated with lower functional status and more severe respiratory symptoms in post COVID syndrome.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Course of neuropsychological health in post-COVID patients differs 6 and 12 months after inpatient rehabilitation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Long COVID Is Not a Functional Neurologic Disorder.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Review
- Exploring the impact of cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, and shortness of breath on activities of daily life after COVID-19 infection, until 1-year follow-up.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2024Article
- Cognitive disengagement syndrome in pediatric patients with long COVID: associations with mood, anxiety, and functional impairment.Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence · 2024Article
- The Fatigue and Altered Cognition Scale among SARS-CoV-2 Survivors: Psychometric Properties and Item Correlations with Depression and Anxiety Symptoms.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCognitive complaints are one of the most frequent symptoms reported in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has been used to estimate prevalence of cognitive impairment in many studies of PASC, and is commonly employed as a screening test in this population, however, its validity has not been established.
objectiveTo determine the utility of the MoCA to screen for cognitive impairment in PASC.
methodsSixty participants underwent neuropsychological, psychiatric, and medical assessments, as well as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 6-8 months after acute COVID-19 infection.
resultsThe overall sample had a mean score of 26.1 on the MoCA, with approximately one third screening below the cutoff score of 26, similar to the rate of extremely low NP test performance. MoCA score was inversely correlated with fatigue and depression measures and ethnic minority participants scored on average lower, despite similar education and estimated premorbid function. The MoCA had an accuracy of 63.3% at detecting any degree of diminished NP performance, and an accuracy of 73.3% at detecting extremely low NP performance. DISCUSSION/
conclusionThe MoCA may not be accurate for detecting neither mild nor more severe degrees of diminished NP test performance in PASC. Therefore, patients with persistent cognitive complaints in the setting of PASC who score in the normal range on the MoCA should be referred for formal NP assessment.
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