Da Covid-19 á condición post-Covid-19: disfunción cognitiva e impacto emocional tras hospitalización

Abstract

Obxectivos: (1) determinar a frecuencia e perfil de disfunción cognitiva das persoas que requiriron hospitalización, aos 6-9 meses da alta, atendendo á sintomatoloxía neurolóxica durante a fase aguda; (2) determinar a prevalencia de síntomas de estrés postraumático; e (3) investigar a relación entre as queixas cognitivas subxectivas, a gravidade da infección, o impacto emocional e o rendemento cognitivo obxectivo. Método: Participaron 44 pacientes (50% mulleres; 50,9 ± 6,14 anos). Cumprimentaron a avaliación cognitiva de Montreal (MoCA), a escala de impacto de eventos revisada (IES-R) e o cuestionario de queixas subxectivas (MFE-30). Resultados: O 65,9% evidenciou deterioración cognitiva, sen diferenzas por sintomatoloxía neurolóxica. O perfil de disfunción cognitiva amosou alteración da capacidade de aprendizaxe verbal, déficits executivos (fluidez), visoespaciais, e de memoria de traballo. O 48,8% presentou sintomatoloxía postraumática. As variables predictoras das queixas subxectivas (MFE-30) foron a sintomatoloxía postraumática (IES-R) e o rendemento cognitivo (MoCA). Conclusións: Unha porcentaxe importante dos participantes amosan disfunción cognitiva leve-moderada, non asociada ao cadro neurolóxico na fase aguda. A metade amosa sintomatoloxía postraumática. O rendemento cognitivo observado e o impacto emocional, pero non o cadro clínico na fase aguda, explican as queixas cognitivas aos 6-9 meses. Constátase o carácter multifactorial da post-Covid-19

Aims: (1) to determine the frequency and profile of cognitive dysfunction of people who required hospitalization, 6-9 months after discharge, based on neurological symptoms during the acute phase; (2) determine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms; and (3) investigate the relationship between subjective cognitive complaints, infection severity, emotional impact, and objective cognitive performance. Method: 44 patients have participated (50% women; 50.9 ± 6.14 years). They completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), and the Subjective Complaints Questionnaire (MFE-30). Results: 65.9% showed cognitive impairment, without any differences by neurological symptoms. The cognitive dysfunction profile showed impaired verbal learning ability, executive (fluency), visuospatial, and working memory deficits. 48.8% presented post-traumatic symptoms. The predictive variables of subjective complaints (MFE-30) were post-traumatic symptomatology (IES-R) and cognitive performance (MoCA). Conclusions: A significant percentage of the participants shows mild-moderate cognitive dysfunction, non-associated with the neurological condition in the acute phase. Half show post-traumatic symptoms. The observed cognitive performance and emotional impact, but not the clinical condition in the acute phase, explain the cognitive complaints at 6-9 months. The multifactorial nature of post-Covid-19 is confirmed