Resilience profile and the persistence of neuropsychiatric symptoms on Long COVID

• Grant number: 24/15195-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Orestes Vicente Forlenza
• Grantee: Marina Mencarini Reinhardt
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Long COVID is a condition that affects almost half of people who contract COVID-19, impacting their quality of life and the performance of usual activities. In addition to chronic fatigue and dyspnea, Long COVID can manifest itself with psychic and neurological symptoms, such as insomnia, anxiety, depressive mood and memory problems, in addition to the so-called "brain fog", which is characterized by difficulty paying attention and concentration and difficulty finding words. Resilience is a psychological characteristic related to the ability to deal with stress and illness situations, and is mainly related to protection against the development of neuropsychiatric diseases, but the literature lacks studies that correlate resilience and the persistence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Long COVID. In this sense, the present study aims to evaluate the role of resilience in the neuropsychiatric recovery of patients infected by COVID-19, comparing the measurement of resilience with two scales (CD-RISC and EPR). Psychiatric and cognitive parameters will be assessed in patients infected by COVID-19, at three moments (T0 - baseline, T1 - after 1 year, and T2 - after 3 years) together with the application of the two resilience scales in the last assessment. To study the results, patients will be divided into three groups: with cognitive disorders, psychiatric disorders (depression and anxiety) and control. Data will be compiled into REDCap and data will be analyzed. Data analyzes will be carried out with the help of JASP statistical program (Version 0.19), considering p values lower than 0.05 to be statistically significant.