Post-COVID-19 brain fog assessment in family medicine, a pilot study

Ana Lesac Brizić, Vanja Lazic

Keywords: post-COVID, brain fog, tool validation

Background:

COVID-19 affects cognitive functions and is associated with functional changes in the central nervous system. In addition, it is associated with cognitive impairment, behavioral changes, confusion, and poor concentration, which is described in the literature as brain fog (BF). The cause of BF can be the virus itself, but also a number of biopsychosocial factors that have been disrupted due to the pandemic. BF, even if transient, strongly impairs a person's quality of life and leads to reduced social functionality. BF can be assessed using Mini-Cog or MoCA, however, these tests might not be a good fit for post-COVID-19 BF. The measurement of reaction time (RT) and complex reaction time (cRT) using online tools might provide a simple way to assess post-COVID-19 BF in a family medicine setting.

Research questions:

The aim of this study is to assess RT and cRT in post-COVID-19 patients with BF, relative to their expected age and gender averages in RT and cRT tests, COVID-19 severity, post-COVID-19 duration, self-assessment scores of BF, and Mini-Cog results.

Method:

50 patients aged 18-65 who visit their family doctor with complaints of post-COVID-19 BF will be asked to join the pilot. Patients will be asked by their doctors to complete online RT, cRT, and Mini-Cog tests in the office along with BF severity self-assessment. COVID-19 data including disease severity and time period from COVID-19 infection will be collected from patient medical records. The validity of RT and cRT will be assessed relative to Mini-Cog and BF self-assessment.

Results:

Preliminary results will be presented at EGPRN SPLIT 2023.

Conclusions:

The proposed study will assess RT and cRT tests as tools to assess BF in post-COVID-19. This could help better identify patients with BF as a vulnerable population, and to provide them with the most adequate rehabilitation possible from both medical and social points of view.

Points for discussion:

How do you evaluate post-COVID-19 brain fog in your country?

Are you aware of any tests or procedures that are aimed specifically at evaluating post-COVID-19 brain fog?

Do you think RT and cRT are a good fit as a proxy for post-COVID-19 brain fog severity?