Clinical Manifestations.

Background: In the present study we aimed to assess the cognition of post-COVID condition (PCC) participants regarding their sleep quality, and to analyse different possible moderators of this effect, such as quality of life (European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions, EQ-5D), fatigue (Chadler Fatigue Questionnaire, CFQ), cognitive reserve (Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire, CRC), and subjective cognitive complaints (Memory Failures of Everyday Questionnaire, MFE-30).

Method: We included 373 individuals with PCC and 126 healthy controls (HCs) from the NAUTILUS Project (NCT05307549 and NCT05307575) that were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and different questionnaires.

Result: We included 373 individuals with PCC and 126 healthy controls (HCs) from the NAUTILUS Project (NCT05307549 and NCT05307575) that were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and different questionnaires. We found that PCC participants with poor sleep quality have a 4.3% greater risk of having immediate verbal memory deficits the greater the MFE-30 score (Odd Ratio (OR) 1,043; Confidence Interval (CI) 1,023-1,063). Also, they multiply their risk of having immediate verbal memory disorders by 2.4 when the EQ-5D is low (OR 0,33; CI 0,145-0,748), and they have less risk of having delayed visual memory deficits the greater the CRC (OR 0,963; CI 0,929-0,999). With processing speed performance, PCC participants and poor sleep quality have a 6.7% greater risk of having deficits the greater the MFE (OR 1,059; CI 1,024-1,096) and the risk of slowing processing speed triples the lower the EQ-5D (OR 0,021; CI 0,003-0,141).

Conclusion: These results indicate that poor subjective sleep quality plays a role as a potential trigger for cognitive deficits. Therapeutic strategies to maximize sleep quality would be reducing not only sleep disturbances, but perhaps also cognitive impairment in PCC participants.