Fig. 6.

PEM severity and cognitive function in patients with ME according to different Hp profiles. A DPEMQ analysis revealed a significant difference between ME patients with three different Hp phenotypes. ME patients with either the Hp2-1 or Hp2-2 phenotype exhibited a significantly higher total DPEMQ score, indicating greater PEM severity after the stress test, compared to those with the Hp1-1 phenotype. B Patients with the Hp1-1 phenotype reported lower dizziness severity compared to Hp2 carriers, with the Hp2-1 group exhibiting the highest severity. C–E BrainCheck analysis at T90 revealed significant differences across multiple parameters, including combined BrainCheck score, Stroop and immediate recognition, among ME patients with different Hp phenotypes. In all these cognitive elements, patients with the Hp1-1 phenotype demonstrated better performance compared to those with the Hp2-1 and Hp2-2 phenotypes. One-way ANOVA was performed to assess significant differences among the normally distributed groups followed by Tukey post hoc test for multiple comparisons. Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test for multiple comparisons was used for non-normally distributed groups. Results were considered significant at *p-value < 0.05 and **p-value < 0.01