Cognitive Rehabilitation Improved Self-Reported Cognitive Skills in Individuals With Long COVID: An Observational...

To describe the effects of cognitive rehabilitation provided to patients with lingering cognitive difficulties or "brain fog" after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Retrospective cohort study.

Outpatient rehabilitation setting.

Seventy consecutive patients with Long COVID who were referred from a Neuro-COVID clinic and evaluated and treated by speech-language pathologists.

Usual care cognitive rehabilitation.

Patients completed the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders Cognition Function Short Form and the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test Story Recall assessments before and after treatment. Demographics, goals, treatment frequency/duration, and interventions were analyzed to determine treatment outcomes and patterns of care.

Of 70 patients, 83% were never hospitalized for COVID-19, the average age was 46.5 years, 77% were women, and 69% were White. There were no differences in demographics, race, ethnicity, or objective cognitive measures before starting treatment between the 50 individuals who completed their plan of care (POC) versus the 20 who did not. However, patients who did not complete their POC reported higher anxiety before treatment. Patients with higher anxiety before treatment demonstrated less improvement in cognitive quality of life measures after treatment. Of the 50 patients who completed their POC, 45 (90%) met all short-term goals. There was a significant increase in Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders Cognition Function scores from pre- to post- cognitive rehabilitation in 36 patients tested, but no significant differences in objective measures of memory in 23 patients tested.

Cognitive rehabilitation resulted in self-reported improvement in functional cognition. However, anxiety limited the favorable effect of treatment and should be addressed in conjunction with cognitive therapy to maximize outcomes.