| Sumario: | Background: Long COVID patients report various cognitive and affective symptoms that are poorly understood. Objective: This study analyzed cognitive and affective performance in 208 Long COVID patients pre and post psychoeducational rehabilitation using a standardized screening test of higher cerebral functions. Identifying persistent difficulties may help guide future rehabilitation efforts. Methods: The sample was comprised by a subset of 208 who completed psychoeducational rehabilitation from 614 Long COVID patients seeking rehabilitation. Performance on specific items was analyzed and compared to a reference sample of 114 educationally matched normal functioning adults. Results: Detailed item analyses in 208 patients revealed persistent difficulties in the efficiency of learning and memory, affective expression, and the ability to accurately predict verbal memory performance compared to a reference sample. Long COVID patients showed variable performance deficits on attention, visual-spatial problem solving and memory measures. Language and related functions were consistently at a level commensurate with normally functioning individuals. Conclusions: Persistent cognitive and affective impairments were identified in Long COVID patients post-rehabilitation. Future programs should aim on to improve the efficiency of learning and memory, enhance the range of affective expression, and improve self-awareness of functional capacities. Rehabilitation should consider the multifactorial causes of these neuropsychological symptoms.
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