Cognitive status and rehabilitation outcomes of patients in acute rehabilitation post Covid-19

Objective This study aims to 1) characterize cognitive functioning in patients admitted for inpatient rehabilitation due to Covid-19 diagnosis and 2) examine how cognitive status at admission is associated with rehabilitation outcomes. Design Retrospective chart review. Setting An inpatient rehabilitation center located in Chicago, Illinois. Participants 80 participants in acute rehabilitation due to Covid-19 disease Intervention Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Cognitive functioning as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and rehabilitation outcomes as measured by Functional Index Measure (FIM) and Section GG items for self-care and mobility (GG-SC and GG-M respectively). Results On average, our sample presented with mild cognitive impairment as assessed by the (MoCA). The most significant deficits were demonstrated in executive function, attention, language, and delayed free recall measures. Higher levels of overall cognitive function were associated with higher cognitive measures of rehabilitation outcomes. Weaker associations were observed with outcome measures of self-care and motor functioning. Conclusion Cognitive impairments are common in patients in acute rehabilitation due to Covid-19 and cognitive performance may help predict rehabilitation outcomes. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This research was supported by the Shirley Ryan Ability accelerator grant. The funders played no role in the design of this study or the interpretation of its results. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Northwestern University's Institutional Review Board granted approval for our study. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors * MoCA= : Montreal Cognitive Assessment FIM= : Functional Index Measure BIS= : Barthel Index Score GG-SC= : Section GG items for measuring aspects of self-care in rehabilitation GG-M= : Section GG items for measuring mobility in rehabilitation