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Disentangling the Cognitive, Physical, and Mental Health Sequalae of COVID-19

106 Pages Posted: 13 Jan 2022 Publication Status: Published

See all articles by Conor J. Wild

Conor J. Wild

Western University - The Brain & Mind Institute

Loretta Norton

Western University - The Brain & Mind Institute

David Menon

University of Cambridge - Division of Anaesthesiology

David Adam Ripsman

University of Ottawa - Department of Medicine

Richard H. Swartz

University of Toronto - Department of Medicine (Neurology)

Adrian Mark Owen

Western University - The Brain & Mind Institute

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Abstract

As COVID-19 cases exceed hundreds of millions globally, many survivors face cognitive challenges and prolonged symptoms. However, important questions about the cognitive impacts of COVID-19 remain unresolved. In the present online study, 478 volunteers who self-reported a confirmed COVID-positive test completed a comprehensive cognitive battery and an extensive questionnaire. This group performed significantly worse than pre-pandemic controls on cognitive measures of reasoning, verbal, and overall performance, and processing speed, but not short-term memory – suggesting domain-specific deficits. We identified two distinct factors underlying health measures: one varying with physical symptoms and illness severity, and one with mental health. Crucially, within the COVID-positive group cognitive performance was correlated with physical symptoms, but not mental health, and significant impairments were evident even in the subgroup that did not require hospitalisation. These findings suggest that the subjective experience of “long COVID” or “brain fog” relates to a combination of physical symptoms and cognitive deficits.

Funding: Funding was generously provided by the Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) program (grant #215063 awarded to AMO), and CIFAR (Manulife Grant CF-0159, awarded to AMO and DKM). RHS receives salary support for research from a Heart & Stroke Clinician-Scientist Phase II Award, Ontario Brain Institute and the Department of Medicine.

Declaration of Interests:The cognitive tests used in this study are marketed by Cambridge Brain Sciences (CBS), of which AMO is the Chief Scientific Officer. Under the terms of the existing licensing agreement, AMO and his collaborators are free to use the platform at no cost for their scientific studies, and such research projects neither contribute to, nor are influenced by, the activities of the company. CJW provides consulting5 services to CBS. Consequently, there is no overlap between the current study and the activities of CBS, nor was there any cost to the authors, funding bodies, or participants who were involved in the study. The authors declared that there were no other potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

Ethics Approval Statement: The study procedures and materials were approved by Western University’s Health Sciences Research Ethics Board.

Keywords: COVID-19, long COVID, cognition, mental health, physical health, online study

Suggested Citation

Wild, Conor J. and Norton, Loretta and Menon, David and Ripsman, David Adam and Swartz, Richard H. and Owen, Adrian Mark, Disentangling the Cognitive, Physical, and Mental Health Sequalae of COVID-19. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4008565 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4008565
This version of the paper has not been formally peer reviewed.

Conor J. Wild (Contact Author)

Western University - The Brain & Mind Institute ( email )

London
Canada

Loretta Norton

Western University - The Brain & Mind Institute ( email )

London
Canada

David Menon

University of Cambridge - Division of Anaesthesiology ( email )

Cambridge
United Kingdom

David Adam Ripsman

University of Ottawa - Department of Medicine ( email )

Canada

Richard H. Swartz

University of Toronto - Department of Medicine (Neurology) ( email )

Toronto
Canada

Adrian Mark Owen

Western University - The Brain & Mind Institute ( email )

London
Canada

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