Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37555926›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurology2023

Characterizing long-COVID brain fog: a retrospective cohort study.

Grace Y Lam, Ronald W Damant, Giovanni Ferrara, Rachel K Lim, Michael K Stickland, Natacha S Ogando, Christopher Power, Maeve P Smith

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Intervention modalities for brain fog caused by long-COVID: systematic review of the literature.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
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  7. How do fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, activity and role functioning, and mental health inter-relate in adults with post-COVID-19 syndrome? A structural equation model analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Grace Y LamDivision of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, 3-111C Clinical Sciences Building, 11302 83 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G3, Canada. glam@ualberta.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7366-193X
Ronald W DamantDivision of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, 3-111C Clinical Sciences Building, 11302 83 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G3, Canada.
Giovanni FerraraDivision of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, 3-111C Clinical Sciences Building, 11302 83 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G3, Canada.
Rachel K LimDivision of Respiratory Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Michael K SticklandDivision of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, 3-111C Clinical Sciences Building, 11302 83 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G3, Canada.
Natacha S OgandoDivision of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Christopher PowerDivision of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Maeve P SmithDivision of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, 3-111C Clinical Sciences Building, 11302 83 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G3, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLong COVID or post-COVID condition (PCC) is a common complication following acute COVID-19 infection. PCC is a multi-systems disease with neurocognitive impairment frequently reported regardless of age. Little is known about the risk factors, associated biomarkers and clinical trajectory of patients with this symptom.

objectiveTo determine differences in clinical risk factors, associated biochemical markers and longitudinal clinical trajectories between patients with PCC with subjective neurocognitive symptoms (NC+) or without (NC-).

methodsA retrospective longitudinal cohort study was performed using a well-characterized provincial database of patients with clinically confirmed PCC separated into NC+ and NC- cohorts. Demographical, clinical and biochemical differences at initial consultation between the two patient cohorts were analyzed in cross-section. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted to identify independent risk factors for neurocognitive impairment. Determination of the recovery trajectory was performed using serial assessments of the patient-reported health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) metric Eq-5D-5L-vas score.

findingsWomen, milder acute infection and pre-existing mental health diagnoses were independently associated with subjective neurocognitive impairment at 8 months post-infection. NC + patients demonstrated lower levels of IgG, IgG1 and IgG3 compared to NC- patients. The NC + cohort had poorer HR-QoL at initial consultation 8 months post-infection with gradual improvement over 20 months post-infection.

conclusionsNeurocognitive impairment represents a severe phenotype of PCC, associated with unique risk factors, aberrancy in immune response and a delayed recovery trajectory. Those with risk factors for neurocognitive impairment can be identified early in the disease trajectory for more intense medical follow-up.

Indexed as

COVID-19Quality of LifeBrainFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesPost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeRetrospective StudiesNeurocognitive impairmentPost-COVID conditionRecovery trajectory

Identifiers

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.