Long-term neuropsychological and pathopsychological consequences associated with COVID-19

Introduction. Long-term consequences associated with COVID-19 have a significant impact on people’s health. The most common symptoms observed in the post-COVID period include disorders of the nervous system (21.7 %). However, data on the mental structure of the consequences induced by SARS-CoV-2 is still lacking. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess the structure and nature of health complaints as well as neuropsychological and pathopsychological disorders in people in the post-COVID period. Materials and Methods. This article presents the results of an extensive survey involving 1,200 respondents, which aimed to identify the main general somatic, mental and neurological consequences that developed from four weeks to twelve months after COVID-19 infection. Another part of the described results comes from an experimental psychological examination of 47 respondents randomly selected from the main study group (n = 1,200), which included an assessment of the overall state of cognitive functions, memory, attention, gnosis, praxis and the severity of psychopathological symptoms. Results. A total of seven subphenotypes of disorders were identified in the post-COVID period, among them anxiety and related phenomena (1), neuromuscular disorders associated with pain syndrome (2), disorders of respiratory, cardiovascular and autonomic systems (3), asthenic phenomena (4), disorders of cognitive functions (5), depressive phenomena (6) and disorders of sensory organs (7). The experimental psychological examination revealed the following mental disorders: a decline in logical and mechanical long-term memory, a decrease in mental stability, difficulties in spatial gnostic and praxic orientations, the severity of anxious and depressive tendencies and a proclivity for obsessive phenomena. Conclusions. Rehabilitation of persons with a history of COVID-19 infection requires a comprehensive neuropsychological correction program rooted in a multidisciplinary approach. The identified subphenotypes and mental disorders of the post-COVID period can be used as corrective targets in rehabilitation.