Abstract:
Some people infected with SARS-CoV-2 report persisting symptoms following acute infection. If these persist for over three months, they are classified as post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). Although PCS is frequently reported, detailed longitudinal neuropsychological characterization remains scarce. We aimed to describe the trajectory of cognitive and neuropsychiatric PCS symptoms. 42 individuals with persisting cognitive deficits after asymptomatic to mild/moderate acute COVID-19 at study inclusion received neuropsychological assessment at baseline (BL) and follow-up (FU; six months after BL). Assessments included comprehensive testing of five neurocognitive domains, two cognitive screening tests, and questionnaires on depression, anxiety, sleep, fatigue, and health-related quality of life. Results showed high rates of subjective cognitive complaints at BL and FU (95.2% versus 88.1%) without significant change over time. However, objectively measured neurocognitive disorder (NCD) decreased (61.9% versus 42.9%). All cognitive domains were affected, yet most deficits were found in learning and memory, followed by executive functions, complex attention, language, and perceptual motor functions. In individuals with NCD, the first three domains mentioned improved significantly over time, while the last two domains remained unchanged. Cognitive screening tests did not prove valuable in detecting impairment. Neuropsychiatric symptoms remained constant except for quality of life, which improved. This study emphasizes the importance of comprehensive neuropsychological assessment in longitudinal research and provides valuable insights into the trajectory of long-term neuropsychological impairments in PCS. While cognitive performance significantly improved in many domains, neuropsychiatric symptoms remained unchanged.
摘要:
一些感染SARS-CoV-2的人报告急性感染后症状持续存在。如果这些持续超过三个月,它们被归类为COVID-19后综合征(PCS)。虽然PCS经常被报道,详细的纵向神经心理学表征仍然很少。我们旨在描述认知和神经精神PCS症状的轨迹。42名在研究纳入时无症状至轻度/中度急性COVID-19后存在持续认知缺陷的个体接受了基线(BL)和随访(FU;BL后六个月)的神经心理学评估。评估包括五个神经认知领域的综合测试,两项认知筛查测试,关于抑郁症的调查问卷,焦虑,睡眠,疲劳,和健康相关的生活质量。结果显示,BL和FU的主观认知投诉率很高(95.2%对88.1%),随着时间的推移没有显着变化。然而,客观测量的神经认知障碍(NCD)降低(61.9%对42.9%)。所有认知领域都受到影响,然而,大多数缺陷是在学习和记忆中发现的,其次是执行职能,复杂的注意力,语言,和感知运动功能。在患有非传染性疾病的个人中,提到的前三个领域随着时间的推移而显著改善,而最后两个域保持不变。认知筛查测试在检测障碍方面没有价值。神经精神症状保持不变,除了生活质量,改进了。这项研究强调了纵向研究中全面神经心理学评估的重要性,并为PCS中长期神经心理学障碍的轨迹提供了有价值的见解。虽然认知表现在许多领域都有显著改善,神经精神症状保持不变。