POST-COVID-19 EXECUTIVE DYSFUNCTION IN ADULTS RESIDING IN THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO
COVID-19; Executive Functions; Emotional Regulation; Neuropsychology; Cognition.
The COVID-19 virus has caused changes in the central nervous system in people who have been exposed, particularly in cognition. One of the affected cognitive functions has been executive functions (EF). These enable goal-directed behavior, evaluating the behaviors adopted for this purpose, discarding ineffective ones, solving problems that may arise on this path, and making decisions congruent with expectations. This study aims to investigate the executive functions of adults treated at the Pedro Ernesto University Hospital who had COVID-19. 50 patients participated (16 men and 34 women), aged between 18 and 60 years, residing in the state of Rio de Janeiro, diagnosed with COVID-19 and referred by SISREG for Post-COVID outpatient care. To investigate executive changes, the Digits subtest, the Five Digit Test, and the Barkley Scale of Executive Functioning Difficulties were used. Changes in cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, self-reported executive functions, as well as the presence of disexecutive symptoms were found. Thus, the findings will be relevant to understanding the executive changes arising from this virus, as well as providing new possibilities to be adopted in neuropsychology and psychotherapies.