Student Nova Southeastern University College of Psychology Hollywood, Florida, United States
Objective: To examine the utility of The Rivermead PCS Questionnaire (RPQ) for patients endorsing persistent cognitive and psychiatric symptoms after COVID infection. The RPQ is a self-report measure of persistent symptoms in those suffering a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) beyond the typical recovery period of 10-21 days. Like mTBI, a considerable percentage of patients who have had COVID-19 report persistent cognitive, somatic, and emotional symptoms after recovering from the disease. Data Selection: Literature reviewed included up to date peer-reviewed research examining the following key terms: prevalence of long-COVID, constellation of symptoms, overlap with Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS), and assessment. Articles were excluded if they examined severe illnesses requiring mechanical ventilation, or if participants had comorbid neurocognitive and/or comorbid psychiatric conditions. Data Synthesis: The “other” category allows for assessment of additional COVID-19 symptoms such as anosmia. Factor analysis demonstrated the existence of cognitive, somatic, and emotional factors with a high degree of covariation. Post-COVID patients endorsed issues with word-finding, attention, fatigue, migraines, anxiety, and depression; symptoms which are also frequently noted in PCS. These symptoms were also commonly reported in the general population, orthopedic patients, and other medical populations, suggesting non-specificity.
Conclusions: Given the similar symptom constellation between PCS and persistent-COVID, the RPQ may be an adequate tool for identifying patients suffering from actual or perceived symptoms. As many of these patients may benefit from treatment outside traditional medicine, including sleep hygiene training, stress management, behavior modification, and counseling, the RPQ could also be used for progress monitoring and/or identifying those requiring further cognitive assessment.
