Impact of new-onset and preexisting neurological disorders in COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is still considered a global pandemic. The prognosis of COVID-19 patients varies greatly. We aimed to assess the impact of preexisting, chronic neurological diseases (CNDs) and new-onset acute neurological complications (ANCs) on the disease course, its complications, and outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a monocentric retrospective analysis from all hospitalized COVID-19 patients between May 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021. Employing multivariable logistic regression models, we explored the association of CNDs and ANCs separately with hospital mortality and functional outcome. RESULTS: A total of 250 among 709 patients with COVID-19 had CNDs. We found a 2.0 times higher chance of death (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.37-2.92) for CND patients than for non-CND patients. The chance for an unfavorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale > 3 at discharge) was 1.67 times higher in patients with CNDs than those without (95% CI: 1.07-2.59). Furthermore, 117 of all patients had 135 ANCs in total. We observed a 1.86 times higher chance to die (95% CI: 1.18-2.93) for patients with ANCs than without. The chance for a worse functional outcome was 3.6-fold higher in ANC patients than without (95% CI: 2.22-6.01). Patients with CNDs had 1.73 times higher odds for developing ANCs (95% CI: 0.97-3.08). CONCLUSION: Preexisting neurologic disorders or ANCs in COVID-19 patients were associated with higher mortality and poorer functional outcome at discharge. Furthermore, development of acute neurologic complications was more frequent in patients with preexisting neurologic disease. Early neurological evaluation appears to be an important prognostic factor in COVID-19 patients.

Representation of long COVID syndrome in the awareness of the population is revealed by Google Trends analysis.

In some COVID-19 patients, symptoms persist for several weeks and sometimes, after the acute disease phase, these patients develop new symptoms, which then represents a transition into the so-called long COVID. The exact demarcation of the terms and generally applicable definitions are still discussed, but the phenomenon is most commonly referred to as long COVID. In this study, Google Trends data have been used to track levels of public awareness for long COVID and some important symptoms during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this analysis clearly demonstrate the public interest in the new topic of long COVID, as documented by a corresponding search volume. This is related to the disease COVID-19, which is being spread by the corona pandemic. Relevant symptoms for COVID-19 or long COVID, for example ageusia and anosmia, only started to receive more public attention during the pandemic. Therefore, Google Trends is a useful tool to demonstrate the population's awareness of certain infodemiological topics like long COVID.