tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Alzheimers Dement
. 2026 Mar;22(3):e71237.
doi: 10.1002/alz.71237.
Increased incidence of mild cognitive impairment in long COVID patients
Jennifer A Frontera[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Arjun V Masurkar[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rebecca A Betensky[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zariya Alvarez[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Allal Boutajangout[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Joshua Chodosh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Salma Hammam[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jessica Hunter[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Li Jiang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Melanie Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jon Links[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Karyn Marsh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Huize Pang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Floyd Silva[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sujata Thawani[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daria Vasilchenko[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alok Vedvyas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amin Yakubov[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Yulin Ge[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Thomas Wisniewski[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Introduction: Though brain fog is common in Long-coronavirus disease 2019 (Long-COVID), the incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is unknown.
Methods: In an observational cohort study, recovered COVID-positive, Long-COVID, and COVID-negative subjects underwent blinded evaluation using National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) -Alzheimer's Association diagnostic criteria for dementia and MCI. The cumulative incidence of MCI was calculated for each group, and the hazard of MCI was compared between groups.
Results: Among 260 subjects, the cumulative incidence of MCI over 4.4 years was higher with Long-COVID (27%) versus recovered-COVID (5%) or COVID-negative status (1%). There was a higher hazard of MCI for patients with Long-COVID compared to those without (hazard ratio
3.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.86-8.31, p < 0.001), and specifically for the Alzheimer's disease (AD) -related MCI subtype (HR 3.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14-9.00, p = 0.027).
Discussion: The cumulative incidence and adjusted hazard of MCI (and specifically AD-related MCI) at 4.4 years was significantly higher among Long-COVID patients compared to recovered-COVID and COVID-negative controls.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; COVID‐19; MCI; SARS‐CoV‐2; cognition; cumulative incidence; dementia; incidence; long‐COVID; long‐hauler; mild cognitive impairment; post‐COVID syndrome; post‐acute sequelae of COVID.
. 2026 Mar;22(3):e71237.
doi: 10.1002/alz.71237.
Increased incidence of mild cognitive impairment in long COVID patients
Jennifer A Frontera[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Arjun V Masurkar[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rebecca A Betensky[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zariya Alvarez[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Allal Boutajangout[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Joshua Chodosh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Salma Hammam[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jessica Hunter[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Li Jiang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Melanie Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jon Links[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Karyn Marsh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Huize Pang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Floyd Silva[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sujata Thawani[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daria Vasilchenko[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alok Vedvyas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amin Yakubov[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Yulin Ge[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Thomas Wisniewski[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 41772376
- DOI: 10.1002/alz.71237
Introduction: Though brain fog is common in Long-coronavirus disease 2019 (Long-COVID), the incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is unknown.
Methods: In an observational cohort study, recovered COVID-positive, Long-COVID, and COVID-negative subjects underwent blinded evaluation using National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) -Alzheimer's Association diagnostic criteria for dementia and MCI. The cumulative incidence of MCI was calculated for each group, and the hazard of MCI was compared between groups.
Results: Among 260 subjects, the cumulative incidence of MCI over 4.4 years was higher with Long-COVID (27%) versus recovered-COVID (5%) or COVID-negative status (1%). There was a higher hazard of MCI for patients with Long-COVID compared to those without (hazard ratio
3.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.86-8.31, p < 0.001), and specifically for the Alzheimer's disease (AD) -related MCI subtype (HR 3.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14-9.00, p = 0.027).
Discussion: The cumulative incidence and adjusted hazard of MCI (and specifically AD-related MCI) at 4.4 years was significantly higher among Long-COVID patients compared to recovered-COVID and COVID-negative controls.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; COVID‐19; MCI; SARS‐CoV‐2; cognition; cumulative incidence; dementia; incidence; long‐COVID; long‐hauler; mild cognitive impairment; post‐COVID syndrome; post‐acute sequelae of COVID.