Long-term neurological manifestations of COVID-19: prevalence and predictive factors

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackgroundClinical investigations have argued for long-term neurological manifestations in both hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. It is unclear whether long-term neurological symptoms and features depend on COVID-19 severity.Methodsfrom a sample of 208 consecutive non-neurological patients hospitalized for COVID-19 disease, 165 survivors were re-assessed at 6 months according to a structured standardized clinical protocol. Prevalence and predictors of long-term neurological manifestations were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsAt 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.Conclusionspremorbid vulnerability and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection impact on prevalence and severity of long-term neurological manifestations.