Neurologic-psychiatric assessment of claimed Post-COVID-syndrome
A pilot study
The expert assessment of people claiming health disorders following a COVID infection is an interesting and multifaceted task. The manuscript describes a naturalistic random sample which was examined from July 2023 to July 2024.
Methods:
The archived data of 90 subjects for which complete data records were available were used. Medical history, sociobiographical information, current clinical, electrophysiological and psychological findings, including complaint validation, were analysed.
Results:
79 percent of the subjects were female, 74 percent on permanent sickness leave following the PCR test and 22 percent already receiving a full disability pension. The symptoms presented were wide and varied. In particular, cognitive impairment and pain were claimed. Only 13 subjects had suffered from viral pneumonia, 2 had required ventilation. At the time of assessment, a polyneuropathy (not related to coronavirus) was found in 30 percent. No consistent pattern of cognitive impairment was observed, with only 6 subjects being classed as authentic in the validation process.
Conclusions:
The pilot study suggests that no consistent pattern of clinical neurological, psychiatric and cognitive findings associated with alleged COVID-related disorders can be found, at least based on this random sample of subjects. The complaints described are polymorphous and there is a surprisingly high number of non-validating findings.
