ArticleNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2026
Cognitive impairment in long-COVID: frequency, trajectories and risk factors in a cohort study from Italy.
Article in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundData on cognitive impairment in patients with Long-COVID remain controversial.
methodsThe study analyzed in patients followed for Long-COVID the frequency and risk factors for cognitive impairment (defined by a Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA] score < 24 points), its associations with subjectively reported cognitive and psychological symptoms, and the evolution of cognitive impairment and cognitive symptoms over time.
resultsAt a mean interval of 259 days from COVID-19, the mean MoCA score recorded among 118 individuals was 25.5, with 32.2% of them showing scores < 24 points. Eighty-five patients (72.0%) presented persisting symptoms, predominantly represented by fatigue (35.6%), dyspnea (28.8%) and cognitive symptoms (24.6%). A MoCA score < 24 was significantly associated with older age, hospitalization during acute disease and female sex. Individuals with persisting cognitive symptoms had significantly lower MoCA scores compared to individuals without such symptoms, with a mean difference of 1.4 points. Anxiety and depression were not associated with lower MoCA scores. In a subsequent evaluation conducted in 66 individuals (55.9%) at an average interval of 959 days from COVID-19, the mean MoCA score decreased by 1.3 points (95%CI 0.5-2, p = 0.001), the frequency of a MoCA score < 24 increased from 25.8% to 36.4% (p = 0.090), and the prevalence of cognitive symptoms increased from 27.3% to 53.0% (p = 0.002). DISCUSSION: Cognitive impairment in Long-COVID appeared common and persisting. Cognitive symptoms, unlike psychological symptoms, were associated with lower cognitive scores and tended to accumulate during follow-up. Advanced age, severity of acute SARS-CoV-2 disease and female sex should be considered as potential risk factors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42010131What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.