New Study: ‘I can’t cope with multiple inputs’: a qualitative study of the lived experience of ‘brain fog’ after COVID-19

Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Services and Department of Clinical Neurosciences recently published an article on the lived experience of “brain fog” amongst Long Covid patients in the U.K., which drew on focus groups with 50 participants. The study was published in the British Medical Journal’s BMJ Open, by Caitriona Callan, Emma Ladds, Laiba Husain, Kyle Pattinson, and Trisha Greenhalgh.

The study details the mixed reactions towards the term “brain fog” to describe the range of symptoms associated with the condition, as well as the affect that this has had on the psychological toll and social relations of Long Covid patients.

As the researchers find:

Qualitative analysis revealed the following themes: mixed views on the appropriateness of the term ‘brain fog’; rich descriptions of the experience of neurocognitive symptoms (especially executive function, attention, memory and language), accounts of how the illness fluctuated—and progressed over time; the profound psychosocial impact of the condition on relationships, personal and professional identity; self-perceptions of guilt, shame and stigma; strategies used for self-management; challenges accessing and navigating the healthcare system; and participants’ search for physical mechanisms to explain their symptoms.

These qualitative findings complement research into the epidemiology and mechanisms of neurocognitive symptoms after COVID-19. Services for such patients should include: an ongoing therapeutic relationship with a clinician who engages with their experience of neurocognitive symptoms in its personal, social and occupational context as well as specialist services that include provision for neurocognitive symptoms, are accessible, easily navigable, comprehensive and interdisciplinary.