COVID-19 long-haulers face many different types of symptoms after recovering from the virus. Even those that do not require hospitalization continue to deal with the aftereffects. While a lot of COVID-19 research is still ongoing, one study explored the frequency and types of neurologic manifestations in non-hospitalized individuals with long COVID.* 

What researchers did

Researchers recruited participants who met the following criteria: 

• Met the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) symptoms of COVID‐19 
• Never hospitalized for pneumonia or hypoxemia 
• Had neurologic symptoms lasting for more than six weeks

In total, there were 100 participants, and they were classified as either:

• SARS‐CoV‐2 laboratory‐positive (SARS‐CoV‐2+) – these participants were confirmed by SARS‐CoV‐2 reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) of nasopharyngeal swab and/or SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody testing.
• SARS‐CoV‐2 laboratory‐negative (SARS‐CoV‐2‐) – these participants met the IDSA COVID‐19 symptom guidelines and, thus, were clinically suspected to have a post‐acute viral syndrome. 

Prospectively, researchers evaluated cognitive function and self‐reported quality of life measures using validated instruments in COVID‐19 long haulers.

What they found

Among all participants (50 SARS‐CoV‐2+ and 50 SARS‐CoV‐2‐), researchers found the main manifestations were:

• Fatigue (85%)
• “Brain fog” (81%)
• Headache (68%)
• Numbness/tingling (60%)
• Dysgeusia or altered taste (59%)
• Anosmia or loss of smell (55%)
• Myalgias or muscle weakness (55%)

Participants also reported significantly worse quality of life in both fatigue and cognitive domains when compared with the demographic-matched U.S. normative population. 

What it means

With the goal of each patient being able to return to normalcy, the long-term impacts of COVID-19 could delay achieving such as it is shown to cause detrimental effects on one’s quality of life and cognitive function. 

While this study has limitations including a small sample size and lack of diversity, it shows a need for more research in non-hospitalized COVID-19 long-haulers. 

*Graham, E. L., Clark, J. R., Orban, Z. S., Lim, P. H., Szymanski, A. L., Taylor, C., DiBiase, R. M., Jia, D. T., Balabanov, R., Ho, S. U., Batra, A., Liotta, E. M., & Koralnik, I. J. (2021). Persistent neurologic symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in non‐hospitalized Covid‐19 “long haulers.” Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51350

Much about the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information about it can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but some “lag” may occur between scientific developments and our revisions.