Long-term neurological manifestations of COVID-19: prevalence and predictive factors
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 15 September 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Neurological Sciences
- Vol. 42 (12), 4903-4907
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05586-4
Abstract
Background Clinical investigations have argued for long-term neurological manifestations in both hospitalised and non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients. It is unclear whether long-term neurological symptoms and features depend on COVID-19 severity. Methods From a sample of 208 consecutive non-neurological patients hospitalised for COVID-19 disease, 165 survivors were re-assessed at 6 months according to a structured standardised clinical protocol. Prevalence and predictors of long-term neurological manifestations were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results At 6-month follow-up after hospitalisation due to COVID-19 disease, patients displayed a wide array of symptoms; fatigue (34%), memory/attention (31%) and sleep disorders (30%) were the most frequent. At neurological examination, 40% of patients exhibited neurological abnormalities, such as hyposmia (18.0%), cognitive deficits (17.5%), postural tremor (13.8%) and subtle motor/sensory deficits (7.6%). Older age, premorbid comorbidities and severity of COVID-19 were independent predictors of neurological manifestations in logistic regression analyses. Conclusions Premorbid vulnerability and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection impact on prevalence and severity of long-term neurological manifestations.Keywords
Funding Information
- Università degli Studi di Brescia
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