Subjective memory disorders and psychological distress in post COVID 19

Abstract

Introduction In addition to psychological distress in patients with COVID 19, neurological and neurocognitive manifestations, such as memory impairment, are increasingly reported. Screening for cognitive impairment is therefore crucial. Objectives Identify cognitive impairment inpost COVID19. Methods This is a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study that took place during the period from 1 st March 15 th May 2021 with 154 patients who were hospitalized at the COVID19 unit at Hedi Chaker Hospital Sfax. The psychometric evaluation, done by telephone, was performed using the "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale" for the screening of anxiety-depressive disorders, the "Impact of Event Scale-Revised" for the screening of post-traumatic stress disorder, the Insomnia Severity Index for the evaluation of sleep, the "The Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire" scale and the Mac Nair questionnaire for the evaluation of subjective memory. Results The mean age was 66.62 ± 13.34 years. Male patients represented 60.4% of the population. The prevalence of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder was 24.7%, 11% and 13.6% respectively. For the assessment of subjective memory, the mean total score of the PRMQ was 27.72 ± 7.71, with that of prospective and retrospective memory 15.41 ± 4.44 and 12.16 ± 3.73 respectively. According to the Mac Nair scale, 18.8% of patients had memory impairment (Mac Nair score >15). Anxious patients showed more memory impairment. Depressed patients had the most impaired scores for total memory (p= 0.03) and retrospective memory (p= 0.022). Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder had more memory impairment (p=0.021). Conclusions Psychological distress is multifactorial in its etiology. The medium and long term management of COVID+ patients must therefore be multidisciplinary. Disclosure of Interest None Declared