Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

ResearchMental health conditionsLong CovidReturn to work and rehabilitationOccupational Health

Severe Covid cognitive impairment ‘equivalent to 20 years of ageing’

by Ashleigh Webber 4 May 2022
by Ashleigh Webber 4 May 2022 Shutterstock
Shutterstock

Severe illness from Covid-19 causes cognitive impairment equivalent to 20 years of ageing, according to a study that exposes the extent of the ‘brain fog’ many long Covid patients report.

The researchers from Imperial College London, Cambridge University and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) tested the cognitive abilities of 46 people who were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in March-July 2020. Sixteen of them were put on mechanical ventilation during their time in hospital.

Six months after their illness they were assessed using the Cognitron platform, which tests different aspects of mental faculties such as memory, attention and reasoning. Scales measuring anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder were also assessed.

Those who were hospitalised with Covid performed tasks with less accuracy and had slower response times than the control group their scores were compared with. These deficits were still detected when the test was repeated six months later, with the level of impairment strongest among those who required a ventilator.

Long Covid

Long Covid rehabilitation: what should a recovery plan look like?

Could long Covid meet the definition of disability?

How to support employees with long Covid

They scored particularly low on verbal analogical reasoning tasks and showed slower processing speeds.

The researchers estimated that the magnitude of cognitive loss is similar on average to that sustained with 20 years ageing, between 50 and 70 years of age, and that this is equivalent to losing 10 IQ points.

The patients’ scores and reaction times began to improve over time, but the study says that any recovery in cognitive faculties was “at best gradual” and likely to be influenced by a number of factors including illness severity and its neurological or psychological impacts.

The researchers suggested the cognitive defects could have been caused by direct viral infection, inadequate oxygen or blood supply to the brain, blockage of large or small blood vessels due to clotting, and microscopic bleeds. However, emerging evidence suggests the body’s own inflammatory response may have affected cognition.

Professor David Menon from the Division of Anaesthesia at the University of Cambridge said: “Cognitive impairment is common to a wide range of neurological disorders, including dementia, and even routine ageing, but the patterns we saw – the cognitive ‘fingerprint’ of Covid-19 – was distinct from all of these.

It is very possible that some of these individuals will never fully recover” – Prof David Menon

“We followed some patients up as late as ten months after their acute infection, so were able to see a very slow improvement. While this was not statistically significant, it is at least heading in the right direction, but it is very possible that some of these individuals will never fully recover.”

Even those with Covid who had not been hospitalised may also have suffered minor cognitive impairment, the researchers said.

Professor Adam Hampshire from the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, the study’s first author, said: “Around 40,000 people have been through intensive care with Covid-19 in England alone and many more will have been very sick, but not admitted to hospital. This means there is a large number of people out there still experiencing problems with cognition many months later. We urgently need to look at what can be done to help these people.”

Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and part of the Personnel Today editorial team. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport.

previous post
Survey reveals public desire for CEO pay restraint
next post
More seeking menopause support in 2022, but many concerned about treatment options

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Occupational health key to helping employers manage long...

23 May 2022

Long NHS waits meaning many with long Covid...

17 May 2022

EHRC: Not all long Covid cases amount to...

10 May 2022

Omicron half as likely to lead to long...

6 May 2022

NHS staff ill with long Covid complain of...

3 May 2022

Ill health and Covid force 400,000 out of...

27 Apr 2022

OH’s leadership being seen as critical to managing...

8 Apr 2022

OH assessments becoming key tool for supporting long...

5 Apr 2022

Top 10 HR questions March 2022: is long...

1 Apr 2022

Long Covid rehabilitation: what should a recovery plan...

1 Apr 2022

  • The importance of being an ethical leader and how to become one PROMOTED | What is ethical leadership?...Read more
  • RPO Report: 2022, The Year to Outsource PROMOTED | Employers should be overwhelmed with choice...Read more
  • Report: Enabling organisational agility through talent & people success PROMOTED | Work has been challenged...Read more
  • Employee Trends 2022 report PROMOTED | Edenred research on employees analysed the key employees’ trends for 2022...Read more
  • How finance apprenticeships can boost business PROMOTED | As the world’s most forward-thinking professional accountancy body...Read more
  • Paul Devoy: Showing appreciation to the Investors in People community PROMOTED | Ask most people what comes to mind when you mention Investors in People...Read more
  • White paper: How digitalisation can support evolving occupational health PROMOTED | Download this free white paper to discover how digitalisation can help occupational health meet emerging challenges...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today