| Poster | Poster Session 09 Program Schedule
02/16/2024
03:30 pm - 04:45 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)
Poster Session 09: Epilepsy | Oncology | MS | Infectious Disease
Final Abstract #95
The COGVID Study Part I: Characteristics of help-seeking outpatients with long COVID
Kristoffer Petterson, Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark, Glostrup, Denmark
Eva Foged, Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark, Glostrup, Denmark
Jeff Petersen, Copenhagen Affective Disorder Research Center (CADIC), Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen, Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Birgitte Fagerlund, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Copenhagen University Hospital – Mental Health Services CPH, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Social Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Category: Infectious Disease (HIV/COVID/Hepatitis/Viruses)
Keyword 1: infectious disease
Objective:
The great majority of people who have contracted the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which causes the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) have had mild infections and full recovery while a minority experience long-term effects (long COVID). The aim of this study was to characterize outpatients seeking help for long COVID in terms of their overall health in addition to their neurological and psychological health before and after COVID-19.
Participants and Methods:
A total of 186 participants were recruited from a neurological long COVID outpatient clinic at Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet). They had been referred from general practitioners based on neurological complaints such as motor or sensory impairment, headache, vertigo, cognitive, or emotional change, and mental fatigue. Participants filled out questionnaires about their health status before and after infection, as well as self-rating scales measuring current symptoms of depression, anxiety and fatigue. Approximately half of the participants underwent neurological assessment.
Results:
Descriptive analyses of the group show a somewhat high prevalence of pre-existing medical diseases and conditions, pre-existing neurological as well as mental health disorders. Neurological assessment did not uncover any specific signs of neurological disorder however benign conditions such as tension-type headache was prevalent. Participants’ self-rating scales confirmed widespread symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as significant fatigue.
Conclusions:
This study indicates that long COVID is a biopsychosocial melting pot of factors from before and after COVID-19. Our data support other research that reports COVID-19 as a somewhat rare cause of neurological disorder after acute infection. Systematic screening of anxiety and depression in help-seeking patients with long COVID should be considered.
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