Persistent brain fog, hair loss highlighted in long-COVID studies

Two new studies describe long-COVID symptoms, with one finding that 53% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients still had cognitive impairment ("brain fog") 13 months after infection, and another adding conditions such as hair loss and sexual dysfunction to the list of persistent symptoms among outpatients.Severe COVID tied to higher risk in one area The first study, by University of Oslo researchers in Norway, was published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

The team used four computer-based cognitive tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery to assess 75 adult COVID-19 patients' cognitive function 13 months after release from a single hospital.

Included patients were, on average, 55.7 years old and were admitted to the hospital up to June 2020.The four tests were delayed matching to sample (DMS) (testing short-term memory, visuospatial processing, learning, and attention), the One-touch Stockings of Cambridge (OTS) test (executive function), rapid visual-information processing (RVP) (sustained attention), and spatial working memory and strategy (SWM).Rates of cognitive dysfunction were 25% on the DMS, 24% on the OTS, 21% on the RVP, and 14% on the SWM.

Overall, 53% showed impairment on at least one of the four tests.Severe COVID-19, as evidenced by the receipt of supplementary oxygen, was associated with a higher likelihood of impaired cognition on the DMS only (odds ratio [OR], 9.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.54 to 57.74).