Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The scientific literature around the world reports on the increasing problem of post-COVID syndrome in children affecting their quality of life. Post-COVID syndrome is a clinical condition that occurs several weeks after an episode of acute COVID-19 infection, which resulted in clinical recovery accompanied by nonspecific neurological symptoms, skin vasculitis, mental disorders and impaired functions of different organs. Significant difficulties in diagnosis and medical and preventive measures are caused by the lack of accurate definitions and diagnostic criteria, which currently allows us to determine post-COVID syndrome as a “diagnosis of exclusion”. The purpose of our present study was to develop an approach to comprehensive assessment of the life quality in children with post-COVID syndrome. COVID-19 infection was diagnosed on the basis of anamnestic data, medical repotrts, results of clinical, laboratory and instrumental studies, consulting with narrow specialists, in accordance with the “ICD 10th revision”. An objective assessment of QOL was based on a set of indices of general clinical blood and urine tests, biochemical parameters, evaluation of immunological status, cardiovascular system, autonomic nervous system, psychoemotional status, and the state of cognitive functions. We studied the initial vegetative tone, the level of memorization, the stability of attention and the performance dynamics, work efficiency, degree of working ability and mental stability, self-assessment scale for the anxiety levels. To diagnose the psychophysiological state of the persons, determine their requests and needs, expectations and attitudes, volitional abilities and stress coping, to assess relationships with people, analyze sources of stress, anxiety, and internal conflicts, the Lusher method (color test) was used. The study has shown development of vegetative, psychoemotional and cognitive disorders after COVID-19 infection, which cause significant discomfort in daily life in children and adolescents which persist for a considerable time, which, in turn, significantly reduces the quality of life in children and adolescents with post-COVID syndrome. The developed method of comprehensive quality of life assessment in the children with post-COVID syndrome is aimed at determining clear objective criteria for assessing the quality of life, thus allowing further evaluation of life quality in this patient population, but also specify medical control over all children and adolescents, and those who suffered from COVID-19, and require further observation by neurologists, psychoneurologists, neuropsychologists, speech therapist, psychologist and psychiatrician.
Source: Russian Journal of Immunology
Institution: Donetsk National Medical University
Language: English
Subfield: Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4407610675