Cognitive function among individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding cognitive function among individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome
IRAS ID
302124
Contact name
Tessa Stanley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh ACCORD
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 2 days
Research summary
COVID-19 began spreading across the globe in early 2020 and was declared a global pandemic in March 2020. A year later, there are increasing reports of people experiencing persisting complaints, including fatigue, neurological and cognitive symptoms. This ongoing experience of symptoms has come to be known as ‘long-COVID’ or post-COVID-19 syndrome. People with long-COVID have described these cognitive difficulties as feeling mentally slow, hazy and struggling to sustain attention throughout the day.
Cognitive difficulties affect our ability to remember to carry out tasks, maintain concentration and even have conversations with others. These aspects of daily living use cognitive processes such as memory, attention and complex mental skills called ‘executive functions’. It is important for our healthcare systems to be able to identify and treat people with long-COVID for their cognitive difficulties, but first we need to understand what these are in more detail.
This study aims to investigate which cognitive difficulties people with post-COVID-19 syndrome are experiencing. People who were hospitalised with COVID-19 will be invited to attend NHS Grampian’s COVID-19 Mental Health Screening Clinic if they are experiencing any persisting symptoms including emotional and cognitive difficulties (linked study 297003). For those reporting cognitive difficulties, a formal neuropsychological assessment, as part of routine clinical care will be offered. With consent from patients, the current research will analyse the assessments to see if there are any common cognitive difficulties among patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome. We will also try to understand whether differences in fatigue levels, anxiety, depression, being ventilated, length of stay in hospital, age and ethnicity may affect their cognitive difficulties.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NE/0175
Date of REC Opinion
21 Oct 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion