Thread by @jcjackson68

Cognitive Impairment in survivors of #LongCovid: A 🧵. Before the pandemic, I worked with survivors of critical illness in clinical/research contexts at the @CIBScenter and @ICU_Recovery. Since 2020, I've focused on neuropsychological issues in #LongCovid. What have we learned?

"Brain fog" might better be called "brain injury" as the cognitive impairment that impacts many #longhaulers is like a brain injury in nature - it happens abruptly, impacts a wide array of cognitive domains, often is not progressive, and may respond to rehabilitation. @CIBScenter

Cognitive impairment after #Covid can be related to illness severity, yes, but that doesn't mean that people with mild illness don't grapple with impairment. Indeed, cognitive deficits can be very profound and persistent in those who were not terribly sick. @CIBScenter

Impairment exists across a spectrum of severity, from mild to severe but the descriptor I like to use is "clinically significant." Clinically significant impairment can be mild but interferes with work, hobbies, relationships, social functioning etc. @CIBScenter @WesElyMD

Areas of cognitive impairment vary #COVID.
We see problems in attention (processing specific information while tuning out details), executive function (higher order abilities that help you achieve a goal) and processing speed (time required to process information) @CIBScenter

These objective deficits (1 to 1.5 SD below the mean on cognitive tests) lead to issues at work like frequent errors and word finding problems and taking a long time to complete tasks and to issues at home like failing to pay bills and forgetting names of friends. @CIBScenter

Often, cognitive problems contribute to problems with anxiety and depression - e.g a patient loses his job because of executive dysfunction and as a result, he becomes intensely depressed but rebounding from depression is harder without cognitive skills. @CIBScenter