Naga Vijaya Lakshmi Divya Boorle1, Nithin Kurra2, Nikhila Gandrakota3, Karnav Modi4, Kavya Sudireddy5, Shayan Ai Irfan6, Akhil Jain7, Priyanka Parikh8, Dinesh Jillella9
1Wayne State University School of Medicine, 2University of Nebraska Medical Center, 3Emory University School of Medicine, 4B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital, 5University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, 6Dow University of Health Science, 7Mercy Catholic Medical Center, 8Pramukhswami Medical College, 9Emory University School of Medicine / Grady Memorial Hospital
Background:
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 has been one of the most widespread and devastating global pandemics affecting more than 500 million people worldwide. After the cessation of active infection, the disease continues to have a disabling impact due to the persistence of fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and depression, among the most common symptoms. This study explores the progression of neurological, neurocognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptoms over a period of 12 months or more following an initial diagnosis of COVID-19.
Design/Methods:
Through an electronic search of eligible studies from PubMed, Cochrane Trial register, and Google Scholar, a total of 10 studies that met the inclusion criteria were used for qualitative analysis. The systematic review highlights the similarities and differences in findings across the included studies.
Results:
Olfactory dysfunction was prevalent in 0.9-51% of individuals, and taste impairment was observed in 1.1- 21.3% of individuals. At 12 months, anxiety was more prevalent (3.5-29%) than depression (3.5-26%). Fatigue was the predominant neurocognitive complaint in 56% of individuals with severe COVID-19. Sleep difficulties were reported in 3.8-50% of individuals. Memory impairment followed by headaches and dizziness were also among the neurocognitive symptoms reported at 12 months.
Conclusions:
From our study, we found that there is a significant neurological burden one year following the diagnosis of COVID-19. Further studies exploring the pathological mechanisms of neurological long COVID-19 are necessary to delineate better the mechanisms behind several long-term Neurological manifestations of COVID-19.