Memory impairment among recovered COVID‐19 patients: The prevalence and risk factors, a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this study is to demonstrate the prevalence of the long‐term side effects of COVID‐19, namely memory impairment among recovered patients, and obtaining the associated factors that link with memory impairment. It is a cross‐sectional retrospective cohort study, that has been conducted from September to November 2022 in Iraq. People who were previously infected with COVID‐19 were included. The study was performed by asking people to complete a questionnaire platform by either online or face‐to‐face interview. The Memory Assessment Clinic‐Q (MAC‐Q) test was utilized, scores that are equal or higher than 25 are indicative of memory decline. Thousand two hundred and eighty‐seven participated in this study. However, only 1157 were included in the final analysis. Three hundred ninety‐nine (34.49%) have memory impairment after COVID‐19 recovery. Female gender, older age group, repeated exposure to COVID‐19 infections, severe diseases, and exposure to multiple SARS‐CoV‐2 variants were independent risk factors of memory deficit in post‐COVID‐19 survivors with a p‐value of 0.0001, 0.02, 0.0001, 0.001, 0.0001 respectively. It is crucial to pay particular attention to psychosocial rehabilitation of such risky groups. COVID‐19 vaccine administrations with booster shots are necessary steps to decrease the disease incidence and avoid subsequent post‐COVID‐19 symptoms.