Mental decline seen in older COVID patients 1 year later

Cognitive impairment was more common among COVID-19 patients 60 years and older—particularly those with severe illness—released from hospitals in Wuhan, China, than among their uninfected peers, according to a 1-year follow-up study yesterday in JAMA Neurology. A team led by researchers at Daping Hospital in Chongqing, China, followed 1,438 COVID-19 survivors aged 60 and older released from one of three dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in Wuhan from Feb 10 to Apr 10, 2020, and compared them with 438 of their uninfected spouses. Because pre-COVID cognitive status wasn't available, family members provided their perceptions of cognitive changes using the Chinese version of the short form of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE).