Dutch multicentre, prospective follow-up, cohort study comparing the neurological and neuropsychological sequelae of hospitalised non-ICU- and ICU-treated COVID-19 survivors: a study protocol
Johanna M A Visser-Meily,
Janneke Horn,
Alida A Postma,
Arjen J C Slooter,
Caroline M van Heugten,
Matthijs C Brouwer,
Kees Brinkman,
Inez Bronsveld,
Annelien Duits,
Simona Klinkhammer,
Esmée Verwijk,
Marcel JH Aries,
Bas CT van Bussel,
Jaap FA Jansen,
Mark LF Janssen,
Susanne van Santen,
Fabienne JH Magdelijns,
Rein Posthuma,
Meta van der Woude,
Amy Otten,
Attila Karakus,
Niek Galenkamp,
Karin AH Kaasjager,
Dook W Koch,
Gert J Geurtsen,
Wytske A Kylstra
Affiliations
Johanna M A Visser-Meily
Department of Rehabilitation, Physical Therapy Science and Sports, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Janneke Horn
Amsterdam Neuroscience - Brain Imaging, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Alida A Postma
11 Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, MUMC+, Maastricht, Netherlands
Arjen J C Slooter
Department of Intensive Care, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Caroline M van Heugten
Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Matthijs C Brouwer
Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kees Brinkman
Department of Internal Medicine, OLVG, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Inez Bronsveld
Annelien Duits
School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Simona Klinkhammer
Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Esmée Verwijk
Department of Medical Psychology, Amsterdam UMC Locatie AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Marcel JH Aries
Bas CT van Bussel
Department of Intensive Care, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Jaap FA Jansen
Mark LF Janssen
Susanne van Santen
Fabienne JH Magdelijns
Rein Posthuma
Meta van der Woude
Amy Otten
Attila Karakus
Niek Galenkamp
University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Karin AH Kaasjager
Department of Internal Medicine and Dermatology, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Dook W Koch
Medical Psychology, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Gert J Geurtsen
3 Department of Medical Psychology, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Introduction Owing to the novelty of COVID-19, there are still large knowledge gaps concerning its effect on the brain and the resulting impact on peoples’ lives. This large-scale prospective follow-up study investigates COVID-19-associated brain damage, neuropsychological dysfunction and long-term impact on the well-being of patients and their close ones. It is hypothesised that structural brain damage and cognitive dysfunction primarily occur in severely ill patients, as compared with moderately ill patients. Cognitive complaints, emotional distress and impact on well-being are hypothesised to be less dependent on illness severity.Methods and analysis For this multicentre study, 200 patients with COVID-19 (100 intensive care unit (ICU) patients and 100 non-ICU patients) formerly hospitalised in one of the six recruiting hospitals during the first European infection wave (ie, March to June 2020) and their close ones will be recruited. At minimally 6 months posthospital discharge, patients will perform a set of neuropsychological tests and are subjected to a 3T MRI scan. Patients and close ones will fill out a set of questionnaires, also at minimally 6 months posthospital discharge and again another 6 months thereafter. Data related to COVID-19 hospitalisation will be extracted from the patients’ medical records. MRI abnormalities will ultimately be related to neuropsychological test performance and questionnaire outcomes.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was granted by the medical research ethics committee of Maastricht University Medical Centre and Maastricht University (NL75102.068.20). The project is sponsored by The Brain Foundation Netherlands. Findings will be presented at national and international conferences, as well as published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.Trial registration number NCT04745611.
