News Scan for Sep 19, 2022

High rates of fatigue, brain fog 9 months after nonsevere COVID-19About 9 months after COVID-19 infection, 19% of nonhospitalized adult patients in a German cohort had fatigue, 26% had mild cognitive impairment ("brain fog"), and 1% had moderate cognitive dysfunction, according to a multicenter study.The study, published late last week in EClinicalMedicine, also showed that the incidence and risk factors for fatigue and cognitive impairment differed by age-group.The researchers administered the FACIT-Fatigue scale and Montreal Cognitive Assessment to 969 participants who had tested positive for COVID-19 at least 6 months earlier at three German hospitals from Nov 15, 2020, to Sep 29, 2021.

A total of 55% of patients were women. The patients' results were compared with those of 969 matched controls from a prepandemic, population-wide survey.A median of 9 months after COVID-19 infection, 19% had clinically relevant fatigue, compared with 8% of controls.

Risk factors included female sex, younger age, history of depression, and altered consciousness, dizziness, and muscle pain—but not illness severity—during acute infection. "This suggests that the affected organ systems, especially central and peripheral nervous system involvement, are more relevant for the development of fatigue than overall illness severity," the authors wrote.A total of 26% of patients had mild cognitive impairment—roughly twice the expected proportion—and 1% had moderate dysfunction.

Risk factors for impaired cognition included older age, male sex, lower educational attainment, and a history of neuropsychiatric disease.The link between fatigue and cognitive impairment was insignificant, and only 5% of patients had both conditions, while 14% had only