Mild to moderate COVID-19 infection: sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in the acute phase and late neurological manifestations

The Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) is a pandemic responsible for over 2,196,944 cases in the world since 2019. This study analyzed the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 172 patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who were monitored in the post-infectious phase at the neurology outpatient clinic of Gaffrée and Guinle University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The objective was to evaluate persistent neurological symptoms after recovery, an area with limited research. Results showed that 51.7% of patients reported at least one post-COVID-19 neurological symptom, with hyposmia/anosmia (27.9%), chronic fatigue (21.5%), and dysgeusia (20.3%) being the most frequent. Cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety, and chronic headache were also observed, even in patients without comorbidities or hospitalization. These findings highlight the importance of long-term neurological follow-up in post-COVID-19 patients and reinforce the need for further studies to understand and manage these complications, even in individuals with mild disease.