Tarantino Samuela, Graziano Sonia, Carducci Chiara, Giampaolo Rosaria, Grimaldi Capitello Teresa
Department of Neurological Sciences, Unit of Clinical Psychology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy.
Department of Paediatric Medicine, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2022 Jul 23;12(8):969. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12080969.
Few studies have evaluated cognitive functioning and mental health in children and adolescents who contracted the SARS-CoV-2 infection. We investigated the prevalence and association of neuropsychological difficulties, psychological symptoms, and self-reported long-COVID complaints in a sample of adolescents.
Thirty-one adolescents infected by COVID-19 within 3-6 months prior to the assessment were included. Neuropsychological difficulties, psychological symptoms, and self-reported long-COVID complaints were evaluated using a checklist and a battery of multiple standardized measures, using a telehealth procedure. Symptoms during the infection were also detected.
We included 31 adolescents (23 girls, 8 boys; mean age 14.1, SD = 2). We found borderline scores in 32.3% and 45.2% of our sample for phonemic and category fluency, respectively. A high percentage of participants showed symptoms of depression (80.6%) and anxiety (61.3%). Fifty-eight percent reported at least one long-COVID symptom. The most common symptoms were headache and attention problems (58%). Subjects presenting numbness/weakness, fatigue, brain fog, or attention problems had higher scores in depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms ( ≤ 0.05).
This is a pilot study limited by the lack of control group. However, we found that cognitive, psychological, and physical symptoms were very common among adolescents recovered from COVID-19.
很少有研究评估感染了严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）的儿童和青少年的认知功能和心理健康状况。我们调查了青少年样本中神经心理困难、心理症状以及自我报告的新冠后长期症状的患病率及其关联。
纳入了在评估前3至6个月内感染了新冠病毒病（COVID-19）的31名青少年。通过远程医疗程序，使用一份清单和一系列多种标准化测量方法对神经心理困难、心理症状以及自我报告的新冠后长期症状进行评估。同时还检测了感染期间的症状。
我们纳入了31名青少年（23名女孩，8名男孩；平均年龄14.1岁，标准差=2）。我们发现样本中分别有32.3%和45.2%的人在音素流畅性和类别流畅性方面得分处于临界水平。高比例的参与者表现出抑郁症状（80.6%）和焦虑症状（61.3%）。58%的人报告至少有一种新冠后长期症状。最常见的症状是头痛和注意力问题（58%）。出现麻木/虚弱、疲劳、脑雾或注意力问题的受试者在抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激症状方面得分更高（P≤0.05）。
这是一项受限于缺乏对照组的试点研究。然而，我们发现，在从COVID-19中康复的青少年中，认知、心理和身体症状非常普遍。
