Table 5 Baseline characteristics of the participants in the validation cohort

From: Distinct brain alterations and neurodegenerative processes in cognitive impairment associated with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19

 

NS-PASC (n = 46)

Other-PASC (n = 47)

Cog-PASC (n = 16)

P

Age, years

50.5 [38.0–65.0]

44.0 [35.0–55.5]

64.5 [57.0–71.0]

<0.001

Female

28 (60.9)

37 (78.7)

7 (43.8)

0.024

Education, years

16.0 [12.0–16.0]

16.0 [15.5–16.0]

12.0 [8.5–13.0]

<0.001

Socio-economic status

Employment status

   

0.420

 Employed

36 (78.3)

32 (68.1)

10 (62.5)

 

 Unemployed

5 (10.9)

5 (10.6)

1 (6.2)

 

 Retired

5 (10.9)

10 (21.3)

5 (31.2)

 

 Student

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

 

Health insurance

   

0.053

 National health

46 (100.0)

47 (100.0)

15 (93.8)

 

 Medical aid

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

1 (6.2)

 

Residential area

   

0.927

 Urban

33 (71.7)

32 (68.1)

10 (62.5)

 

 Suburban

12 (26.1)

13 (27.7)

5 (31.2)

 

 Rural

1 (2.2)

2 (4.3)

1 (6.2)

 

Comorbidities

 Hypertension

9 (19.6)

8 (17.0)

4 (25.0)

0.781

 Hyperlipidemia

11 (23.9)

6 (12.8)

5 (31.2)

0.200

 Diabetes

2 (4.3)

4 (8.5)

4 (25.0)

0.047

 History of stroke or CHD

1 (2.2)

1 (2.1)

0 (0.0)

0.839

 Chronic kidney disease

0 (0.0)

1 (2.1)

0 (0.0)

0.514

 Chronic lung disease

0 (0.0)

3 (6.4)

0 (0.0)

0.131

 Inactive cancera

2 (4.3)

3 (6.4)

0 (0.0)

0.571

 Depression

0 (0.0)

1 (2.1)

0 (0.0)

0.514

COVID-19 infection times

   

0.016

 Once

39 (84.8)

26 (55.3)

12 (75.0)

 

 Twice

7 (15.2)

17 (36.2)

4 (25.0)

 

 Thrice

0 (0.0)

4 (8.5)

0 (0.0)

 

Variant of SARS-CoV-2

   

0.367

 Delta

0 (0.0)

2 (4.3)

1 (6.2)

 

 Omicron

46 (100.0)

45 (95.7)

15 (93.8)

 

Post-COVID-19 period, month

11.0 [7.0–17.0]

21.0 [12.0–25.0]

19.0 [12.0–20.0]

<0.001

Post-COVID-19 brain imaging interval

13.0 [8.0–18.0]

22.0 [14.0–25.0]

19.5 [12.0–21.0]

<0.001

Hospitalized for COVID-19

0 (0.0)

1 (2.1)

1 (6.2)

0.271

 ICU Hospitalization

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

 

Treatment for COVID-19b

0 (0.0)

1 (2.2)

6 (12.8)

0.060

Vaccination status

   

0.380

 Partially vaccinated

1 (2.2)

5 (10.6)

1 (6.2)

 

 Fully vaccinated

0 (0.0)

1 (2.1)

0 (0.0)

 

WHO Ordinal Scale

   

0.271

 Score 1

45 (97.8)

41 (87.2)

15 (93.8)

 

 Score 3

46 (100.0)

46 (97.9)

15 (93.8)

 

 Score 4

0 (0.0)

1 (2.1)

1 (6.2)

 

MoCA score

29.0 [28.0–30.0]

29.0 [28.0–29.5]

24.5 [23.0–25.0]

<0.001

FAS score

17.5 [12.0–19.0]

26.0 [23.0–30.0]

23.5 [14.0–29.0]

<0.001

PASC score

0.0 [0.0–0.0]

11.0 [2.0–14.0]

11.0 [1.5–13.5]

<0.001

  1. NS-PASC, no significant PASC group; Other-PASC, the group with multifaceted long-COVID symptoms other than cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA] ≥26 [a score ≥26 was considered normal] Fatigue Assessment Scale [FAS] ≥22 [a score >22 indicated higher fatigue], and/or PASC score [symptom scores selected to define PASC] ≥12 [the threshold for the PASC score was ≥12]); Cog-PASC: group with cognitive impairment (MoCA <26 [a score ≤25 was considered mild cognitive impairment]). PASC, post-acute sequelae of COVID-19; WHO Ordinal Scale, The World Health Organization (WHO) ordinal clinical severity scale at hospital admission (the scale ranges from 0 to 9, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity); Data are presented as n (%) for categorical variables and as median with interquartile range (IQR; 25th–75th percentiles) for continuous variables. Group differences were assessed using two-sided Pearson’s chi-squared tests (categorical) and the Kruskal–Wallis test (continuous), with Dunn’s post hoc pairwise comparisons and Bonferroni adjustment for multiple testing where applicable. Exact p-values are provided in the Source Data file.
  2. aCured or inactive cancer status.
  3. bTreatment for COVID-19 included Paxlovid (n = 1), Molnupiravir (n = 1), Remdesivir (n = 1), and unknown treatment (n = 4).
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