Self-reported health, neuropsychological tests and biomarkers in fully recovered COVID-19 patients vs patients with post-COVID cognitive symptoms: a pilot study
Objective Substantial numbers of individuals who contract COVID-19 experience long-lasting cognitive symptoms such as brain fog. Yet research to date has not compared these patients with healthy controls with a history of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection, making it difficult to understand why certain COVID patients develop post-COVID cognitive symptoms while others do not. The objective of this pilot study was to compare two groups of laboratory-confirmed post-COVID patients, with and without cognitive symptoms, on measures of cognitive and psychological functioning, self-reported perceptions of functional status and quality of life, and biomarkers of stress, inflammation, and neuroplasticity. Methods Using a case-control design, 17 participants were recruited from a healthcare system in western Michigan, USA in 2022 through 2024. All participants were aged 25-65 and had a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test confirming previous COVID-19 infection. Ten participants repo
