The physical and mental damage caused by the spread and invasion of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a huge challenge to my country’s medical and health system. It is particularly noteworthy that reports of post-COVID-19 cognitive impairment have gradually increased, which has seriously affected the quality of life of those infected with COVID-19. At present, there is no international expert consensus on the diagnosis, treatment and management of cognitive impairment after COVID-19, which affects clinicians and the public’s awareness of this syndrome and its prevention and treatment.
Therefore, on behalf of the Cognitive Impairment Professional Committee of the Neurology Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Professor Jianping Jia, who is Director of the Neurological Disease High Innovation Center of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, organized more than 50 experts in cognitive impairment and other fields across the country. Combined with the actual situation in China, “Consensus on diagnosis, treatment and management of post-COVID-19 cognitive impairment” was formed on the long-term COVID-19 and cognitive impairment, related risk factors and management measures, which was published in the “Science China: Life Sciences” journal on August 18, 2022.
The consensus analyzes the epidemiology, clinical manifestations and diagnosis of post-COVID-19 cognitive impairment, risk factors for post-COVID-19 cognitive impairment, and treatment and management of post-COVID-19 cognitive impairment from a global perspective. After discussions and repeated revisions by the expert group, recommendations were finally formed. In order to improve the understanding of this disease, reduce the damage of cognitive impairment after new coronary pneumonia to human daily function, and provide diagnosis and treatment reference for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cognitive impairment during the prevention and control of new coronary pneumonia.
This is the first international consensus on the diagnosis, treatment and management of post-COVID-19 cognitive impairment, and provides a programmatic document for cognitive clinicians. This expert consensus summarizes the high incidence and clinical manifestations of cognitive impairment after COVID-19, and proposes that attention should be paid to the extensive damage to cognitive function caused by long-term COVID-19, and the evaluation of cognitive status after COVID-19 should be carried out. Strengthening the identification of its risk factors, effectively controlling risk factors as much as possible, emphasizing non-drug therapy and lifestyle and other diagnosis and treatment strategies will help to improve the diagnosis, treatment and standardized management of cognitive impairment after COVID-19 in China. With the continuous advancement of medicine, COVID-19 may be brought under control in a short period of time, but clinical research on its subsequent impact on cognition should continue to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 and further improve the prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment after COVID-19 in China.