Background

COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus and presents a wide range of symptoms, both in its acute phase and in its chronic phase. Among the systems that it affects is the Nervous, due to its neurotropic mechanism.

Objective

to determine the risk of neurological complications associated with the COVID-19 severity in adult patients.

Methods

a descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out, which included 143 positive patients for COVID-19 treated at the San Vicente de Paúl Hospital, in Ibarra, Ecuador, during 2021. Neurological complications and the severity of the COVID-19 disease were analyzed. As a measure of association for these variables, the Fisher Test was used (p = ≤ 0.05) and a bivariate analysis was performed.

Results

54% of the patients presented neurological complications of the Central Nervous System, while 46% were of the Peripheral Nervous System; and mild-moderate severity was the most frequent (41%), and hearing impairment had the highest statistical probability of occurring (OR= 74.968; CI: 95%). The case fatality rate in these patients was 7.1%; and in those with neurological complications, 8.4%.

Conclusion

the neurological sequelae most likely to occur were hearing impairment and taste impairment, in patients with mild severity and serious severity, respectively; in addition to polyneuropathy in patients with critical severity, which also occurred in deceased patients.

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