COVID-19 and cognitive performance: a nested case-control study in older adults from Ticino, southern Switzerland - preliminary results

Rizzi, Greta and Pacifico, Deborah and Mele, Federico and Annoni, Anna Maria and Fiordelli, Maddalena and Jovic, Sandra and Giacchetto-Sasselli, Isabella and Piccoli, L. and Corna, Laurie and Amati, Rebecca and Pertoldi, Wiliam and Sallustro, Federica and Albanese, Emiliano (2022) COVID-19 and cognitive performance: a nested case-control study in older adults from Ticino, southern Switzerland - preliminary results. In: 35th Global Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International, 10.06.2022, London, GB - Webinar. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

AIM: We aimed to study the association of serologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection with cognitive performance in older adults without dementia. METHODS: We used a case-control design nested into a cross-sectional study. Caseness was defined using serologically confirmed COVID-19 infections based on anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We selected matched seronegative controls, and conducted in-person neuropsychological assessment, using validated, age-standardized, domain-specific tests of memory, reasoning, language, orientation, and attention. RESULTS: 38 older adults participated in the study (mean age was 83.13, 86.8% women). 17 were community-dwelling individuals and 21 lived in long-term care homes. 14 were cases (36.8%) and 24 controls (63.2%). In linear regression models, compared to controls, cases obtained significantly lower scores in attention (β=0.388, p= 0.036), executive functions (β=0.326, p=0.046) and memory tasks (β=0.367, p= 0.023) and similar scores in tests of language and spatial-temporal orientation (p values > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Covid-19 infection was associated with cognitive impairment, in particular in the memory, attention, and executive functions domains. Our results provide preliminary yet clear empirical support for the “cognitive covid” construct, and suggest that COVID-19 might have mid- to long-term effects on cognitive functions.

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