Assessment of Neurological Functioning in Covid-19 Survivors and Healthy Individuals

Amara Gul; Ayla Khan

doi:10.35484/ahss.2024(5-IV)31

Authors

Amara Gul Chairperson, Psychology Department, Dean Faculty of Social & Administrative Sciences, The University of Haripur, KP, Pakistan
Ayla Khan Ph.D. Scholar, Psychology Department, The University of Haripur, KP, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35484/ahss.2024(5-IV)31

Keywords:

Age Differences, BNCE, Cognitive Impairments, COVID-19, Gender Differences, Neuropsychological Functioning

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 has adversely affected the individuals worldwide. The purpose of this study was to assess the neuropsychological functioning of COVID-19 survivors in comparison to healthy individuals, with an emphasis on determining any potential age and gender-based differences. It is comparative cross-sectional study and included 250 healthy controls and 250 COVID-19 survivors. The Brief Neuropsychological Cognitive Examination (BNCE) was used to test the participants' cognitive abilities. Group differences and demographic effects were examined in the data. Across all cognitive subscales, the results showed that COVID-19 survivors had significantly worse neuropsychological functioning than healthy controls. The study identifies demographic differences in cognitive results and emphasizes the widespread effect of COVID-19 on cognitive functioning. Study findings highlight the need of focused cognitive rehabilitation programs especially for females and younger people and advised to conduct longitudinal studies to examine the cognitive deficits in COVID-19 survivors.