Cognitive-linguistic difficulties in COVID-19 : a longitudinal case study

Abstract

This case study examines a 44-year-old woman who contracted SARS-CoV-2 in early 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. She was first examined by the author in January 2021. By that stage, it was apparent she had not made a complete recovery from her COVID infection and had gone on to develop the long COVID syndrome. Her predominant symptoms were fatigue and marked “brain fog”. As well as causing considerable distress, these symptoms were preventing her from resuming her occupational role as a community nurse working in a district nursing team. On assessment by the author, significant difficulties were evident in immediate and delayed verbal recall, the informativeness of spoken discourse, and verbal fluency. The author and woman communicated regularly between January and July 2021. Although some improvement in her condition was reported during this time, it was not sufficient for her to return to work and resume other daily activities. The author assessed her again at the end of July 2021 and reported a moderate improvement in her earlier cognitive-linguistic performance. This case study examines the onset and progression of this woman’s COVID illness, with particular focus on the cognitive-linguistic difficulties that remain her most persistent and troubling symptom.