AUSTIN, Texas & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BrainCheck Inc., a cognitive workflow platform, today highlighted the publication of a peer-reviewed longitudinal study conducted at UTHealth Houston that used BrainCheck to track cognitive outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 over a 36-month period. The study, published in The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, represents one of the largest and longest-running evaluations of cognitive outcomes following COVID-19 hospitalization to date.
The study followed 630 patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19 symptoms, assessing cognitive function repeatedly across 36 months using BrainCheck as the digital assessment platform. BrainCheck evaluated multiple cognitive domains, including attention, cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and memory, enabling repeatable, scalable assessment across time points without requiring in-person clinical visits.
Researchers identified four distinct cognitive trajectories among participants:
- 48% (N=103) maintained consistent normal cognitive function throughout the full 36 months.
- 32% (N=68) showed persistent impairment across all cognitive domains throughout the study period.
- 14% (N=29) improved from impaired to unimpaired over time, suggesting meaningful cognitive recovery is possible in a meaningful subset of patients.
- 7% (N=14) transitioned from unimpaired to impaired — representing a pattern of delayed cognitive decline that emerged only at later time points.
The identification of the delayed decline group is among the study’s most clinically significant findings. These patients appeared cognitively intact in early follow-up assessments but showed impairment at later time points, a pattern researchers suggest may reflect ongoing PASC-associated mechanisms, potentially including chronic cerebral inflammation, continuing to affect the brain well after the acute infection resolves. The study also found that poorer cognitive outcomes were associated with Hispanic ethnicity, though effects varied across cognitive domains.
“These findings underscore something we hear from clinicians regularly, which is that a single cognitive assessment, even a normal one, doesn’t tell the whole story,” said Mary Patterson, Vice President of Clinical Operations at BrainCheck. “The fact that a subset of patients showed no impairment early on but declined later is a compelling argument for ongoing longitudinal monitoring. This study demonstrates that BrainCheck can serve as a continuous monitoring platform across multi-year time horizons in real-world populations.”
The findings have meaningful implications for how post-COVID cognitive care is structured. For patients who appear cognitively intact shortly after hospitalization, this research suggests that ongoing monitoring may be necessary to detect impairment before it becomes clinically apparent. For health systems managing large volumes of post-COVID patients, BrainCheck’s remote, repeatable assessment model offers a scalable path to doing that monitoring without placing additional burden on specialist capacity.
For more information about BrainCheck, visit www.braincheck.com.
Citation
Maziero MP, Lee EA, Colpo GD, Couture L, Merrill LC, Baskin L, Cahuiche AE, Petway A, Fan H, Reese E, Anderson KM, McCullough LD, Schulz PE, Ortiz GJ IV. Cognitive Trajectories After Hospitalization for COVID-19: A 36-Month Longitudinal Study. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. Published online April 7, 2026. PubMed: 41943185. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20250267.
About BrainCheck
BrainCheck is a cognitive workflow platform that helps healthcare organizations operationalize a more standardized, repeatable approach to cognitive evaluation and follow-up. Built around BrainCheck Assess™—its flagship FDA Class II digital cognitive assessment—the platform connects key steps across the cognitive care workflow in a single solution, from screening and assessment through interpretation, care planning, and longitudinal monitoring.
BrainCheck is used by more than 500 healthcare organizations nationwide, including Kitwood Health, Bon Secours, UPMC, and Springfield Clinic, as well as 46 research hospitals, including The University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University. Clinicians use BrainCheck’s clinical evaluation tools, including validated screeners and assessments, and care planning tools, to build tailored protocols.
BrainCheck is intended to support clinical decision-making and is not designed to function as a stand-alone diagnostic tool.
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