The Daily Populous Friday August 2nd, 2024 night edition
Authored by newscientist.com and submitted by dead_planets_society

An analysis of people who were hospitalised with covid-19 in the first wave of the pandemic has revealed that the ongoing decline in their cognitive abilities is the equivalent to losing 10 IQ points

Covid-19 can have lasting effects on physical and mental health Aleksandr Davydov / Alamy

The cognitive abilities of people who were hospitalised with covid-19 during the first wave of the pandemic remain lower than expected, even years later, and there is some evidence that this is forcing them to change jobs.

“What we found is that the average cognitive deficit was equivalent to 10 IQ points, based on what would be expected for their age, et cetera,” says Maxime Taquet at the University of Oxford.

His team looked at 475 people in the UK who had been hospitalised with covid-19 and discharged before 31 March 2021. All had completed psychiatric and cognitive assessments six months after their discharge from hospital as part of another study. Taquet’s team asked them to repeat the assessments two to three years later and found that, on average, peoples’ symptoms of depression, anxiety and fatigue had worsened. “More people are getting worse than getting better,” says Taquet.

Overall, 47 per cent had moderate to severe depression at the second assessment compared with 34 per cent at six months, while 40 per cent had moderate to severe fatigue compared with 26 per cent in the first tests. The proportion of people with moderate to severe anxiety saw a smaller change, rising from 23 per cent to 27 per cent.

The results of the cognitive assessments were unchanged, with an average cognitive deficit equivalent to 10 IQ points at both initial and follow-up tests. As the participants weren’t tested before being hospitalised, there is no baseline to compare to, says team member Paul Harrison, also at the University of Oxford. Instead, the team compared the results to what would be expected for people of the same age, sex and education level, based on a survey called the Great British Intelligence Test.

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Why so many people’s symptoms grew worse isn’t clear, but the team did find that those with more severe symptoms in the initial psychiatric tests were more likely to see them intensify over time. Taquet says one participant said it was hard to be short of breath for three years and not experience depression.

The team also found that more than a quarter of participants had changed their occupation since being hospitalised, with half of those who changed occupation saying they did so due to poor health. The researchers found a strong association between changing occupation and cognitive decline, but not with depression, anxiety or fatigue. This suggests that many people are making the change because they can no longer cope with the cognitive demands of their previous role, rather than because of a lack of energy or interest, says Taquet.

He acknowledges that the study has some major limitations. While around 2500 people were invited to take part in the research, only a fifth responded so it isn’t clear how representative the study is.

jim89_ on August 1st, 2024 at 17:21 UTC »

I can’t afford to lose 10 IQ

Jcrl on August 1st, 2024 at 16:46 UTC »

No wonder I feel dumber

Seruxis on August 1st, 2024 at 16:18 UTC »

The study tested people immediately after infection and several years later. Only 20% of invited participants participated, so the study's representativeness is uncertain. No pre-infection baseline exists. Interesting study with major limitations.