Sirotiak, Zoe, Adamowicz, Jenna L, Thomas, Emily B K · Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2025 · DOI
This study looked at brain fog and concentration problems in people with ME/CFS and long COVID using data from over 27,000 Americans. Researchers found that people with ME/CFS are about 6 times more likely to experience cognitive difficulties like memory and concentration problems compared to people without these conditions, while long COVID increases the risk about 2 times. People who have both ME/CFS and long COVID together face even greater cognitive challenges.
Understanding how cognitive impairment differs between ME/CFS and long COVID is critical for accurate diagnosis, appropriate clinical management, and targeted research. This study provides epidemiological evidence that ME/CFS carries a particularly high cognitive burden, which can guide healthcare providers in assessing and supporting patients and inform research prioritizing cognitive dysfunction mechanisms.
This study cannot establish causation—it only shows associations between these conditions and cognitive difficulties. It relies on patients' self-reported cognitive problems rather than objective testing, so the actual severity and specific types of cognitive impairment cannot be precisely measured. The study also cannot identify what biological mechanisms or disease features cause these cognitive difficulties.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Sirotiak, Zoe, Adamowicz, Jenna L, & Thomas, Emily B K (2025). Cognitive Impairments in Two Samples of Individuals with ME/CFS and Long COVID: A Comparative Analysis.. Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-025-10074-4
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sirotiak-2025-cognitive-impairments,
author = {Sirotiak, Zoe and Adamowicz, Jenna L and Thomas, Emily B K},
title = {Cognitive Impairments in Two Samples of Individuals with ME/CFS and Long COVID: A Comparative Analysis.},
journal = {Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1007/s10880-025-10074-4},
note = {PubMed: 40120036},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sirotiak-2025-cognitive-impairments},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sirotiak-2025-cognitive-impairments
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