The team has developed what they hope is a simple and accurate online measure of cognition - and now all they need are people to test it.
"There is a growing body of evidence that some people who contract COVID-19 continue to experience cognitive difficulties months after, including fatigue, trouble concentrating and memory problems," said Associate Professor Deborah Apthorp from UNE's School of Psychology. "Our study is investigating whether there are cognitive differences between people who have recovered from COVID-19, those who may be exhibiting symptoms of long COVID, and those who have not had the virus at all. It's open to everyone."
The World Health Organisation regards long COVID as the persistence of symptoms for at least three months after contracting the virus. Studies have begun to identity symptoms like difficulties with executive functioning, memory, attention and problem-solving, but in the absence of a rapid effective test, the extent and severity of these cognitive symptoms remains unknown.
The UNE researchers, who are members of the Australian Long COVID Collaboration Group, have developed a series of online tests and surveys to assess cognitive impairment and how it impacts a person's quality of life. If proven effective, the measures could be used to develop standardised tests to support treating health practitioners and patients struggling for validation internationally.
"In the recent past, one of my students developed symptoms of what may be long COVID, and when I started reading papers in this emerging field I became concerned about the quality of some of the cognitive testing," said Assoc. Prof. Apthorp. "Due to the 'ceiling effect' - when a large proportion of participants score near the upper limit of a test - it can be quite easy to do well on existing tests. Our new study is an attempt to measure the cognitive impacts of COVID more objectively and precisely, and to enable that testing to happen remotely, so we can involve rural and regional people and those who find it hard to travel.
"Many people with long COVID still don't feel believed by the medical establishment. It's crucial that we understand how long symptoms persist and how they progress, and whether they are observable even in people who don't have long COVID. This is important as we work to improve cognitive deficits in patients, develop future policy and allocate resources for treatment."
Honours student Adriarne Minter, who is leading the testing phase of the study, said long COVID can be life-changing. "Nearly everyone has now had COVID-19, and our research team is committed to helping those who continue to suffer," she said. "People are reporting a wide variety of symptoms and we hope our testing will enable us to more accurately measure those symptoms and track them over time."
Anyone can complete the three cognitive tests and surveys and go into the prize draw.
Click on this link https://deborahapthorp.github.io/UNE-long-COVID/ to read the Information for Participants and complete the study.
