Carmona-Cervelló Meritxell, León-Gómez Brenda Biaani, Dacosta-Aguayo Rosalia, Lamonja-Vicente Noemí, Montero-Alía Pilar, Molist Gemma, Ayet Aitana, Chacón Carla, Costa-Garrido Anna, López-Lifante Victor M, Zamora-Putin Valeria, Liutsko Liudmila, García-Sierra Rosa, Fornés Antònia, Moreno-Gabriel Eduard, Massanella Marta, Muñoz-Moreno Jose A, Rodríguez-Pérez M Carmen, Mateu Lourdes, Prats Anna, Mataró Maria, Boigues Marc, Quirant Bibiana, Prado Julia G, Martínez-Cáceres Eva, Violán Concepción, Torán-Monserrat Pere
Unitat de Suport a la Recerca Metropolitana Nord, Institut Universitari d'Investigació en Atenció Primària Jordi Gol (IDIAP Jordi Gol), Mataró, Spain.
Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Badalona, Spain.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2024 Jul 5;11:1399145. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1399145. eCollection 2024.
The neurological symptoms of Long COVID (LC) and the impact of neuropsychological manifestations on people's daily lives have been extensively described. Although a large body of literature describes symptoms, validating this with objective measures is important. This study aims to identify and describe the effects of Long COVID on cognition, balance, and the retinal fundus, and determine whether the duration of symptoms influences cognitive impairment.
This cross-sectional study involved LC volunteers with cognitive complaint from public health centers in northern Barcelona who participated between January 2022 and March 2023. This study collected sociodemographic characteristics, information on substance use, comorbidities, and clinical data related to COVID-19. We measured five cognitive domains using a battery of neuropsychological tests. Balance was assessed through posturography and retinal vascular involvement by retinography.
A total of 166 people with LC and cognitive complaints participated, 80.72% were women and mean age was 49.28 ± 8.39 years. The most common self-reported symptoms were concentration and memory deficit (98.80%), brain fog (82.53%) and insomnia (71.17%). The 68.67% presented cognitive deficit in at least one domain, with executive functions being the most frequent (43.98%). The 51.52% of the participants exhibited a dysfunctional pattern in balance, and 9.2% showed some alteration in the retina. There were no statistically significant differences between cognitive impairment and symptom duration.
Our findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the pathology associated with Long COVID. They highlight the diversity of self-reported symptoms, the presence of abnormal balance patterns, and some cognitive impairment. These findings underscore the necessity of addressing the clinical management of this condition in primary care through follow-up and the pursuit of multidisciplinary and comprehensive treatment.
新冠后综合征（LC）的神经症状以及神经心理学表现对人们日常生活的影响已得到广泛描述。尽管大量文献描述了这些症状，但用客观指标进行验证很重要。本研究旨在识别并描述新冠后综合征对认知、平衡和眼底的影响，并确定症状持续时间是否会影响认知障碍。
这项横断面研究纳入了2022年1月至2023年3月期间来自巴塞罗那北部公共卫生中心的有认知主诉的新冠后综合征志愿者。本研究收集了社会人口学特征、物质使用信息、合并症以及与新冠相关的临床数据。我们使用一系列神经心理学测试测量了五个认知领域。通过姿势描记法评估平衡，通过视网膜造影评估视网膜血管受累情况。
共有166名有认知主诉的新冠后综合征患者参与，其中80.72%为女性，平均年龄为49.28±8.39岁。最常见的自我报告症状是注意力和记忆缺陷（98.80%）、脑雾（82.53%）和失眠（71.17%）。68.67%的患者在至少一个领域存在认知缺陷，其中执行功能最为常见（43.98%）。51.52%的参与者表现出平衡功能障碍模式，9.2%的参与者视网膜有一些改变。认知障碍与症状持续时间之间无统计学显著差异。
我们的研究结果有助于更全面地了解与新冠后综合征相关的病理。它们突出了自我报告症状的多样性、异常平衡模式的存在以及一些认知障碍。这些发现强调了在初级保健中通过随访以及寻求多学科综合治疗来处理这种疾病临床管理的必要性。
