Psychosocial Impact of Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome: Harmonizing an Online Assessment Platform for the BRAINN Project

Research Objectives: To harmonize an assessment battery and investigate the long-term psychosocial effects of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome in adult populations across Cyprus, Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, through an epidemiological study during the EU-funded project BRAINN. Factors investigated include fatigue, anxiety, depression, and overall health-related quality of life using an online assessment battery.

Design: Cross-sectional epidemiological study.

Setting: Hosted and managed by the University of Cyprus, this study employs REDCap electronic data capture tools to gather psychosocial and health data securely and remotely from adult individuals with and without history of COVID-19, aiming at 1000 participants per country.

Participants: The study has been deployed in Cyprus first, with 230 individuals to date (32 males), ranging in age from 18 to 83 years (mean age=34.6, SD=16.7). Participants were recruited from the general population of Cyprus and included both individuals with (90%) and without (10%) a documented history of COVID-19.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Online psychosocial assessment measured fatigue, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. Additional demographic and health-related data were also collected to assess their impact on outcomes.

Results: Preliminary analyses reveal that participants exhibited mild levels of anxiety and depression yet reported good quality of life and no significant problems in daily activities. These findings underscore a complex interplay between psychosocial impacts and resilience factors in individuals post COVID-19. Comparative analysis between participants with and without post-acute COVID-19 syndrome will further elucidate the specific influence of the virus on long-term psychosocial outcomes.

Conclusions: The preliminary results suggest mild yet notable psychosocial effects post COVID-19 in Cyprus, with findings of mild anxiety and depression juxtaposed against a good quality of life. The effective deployment of the REDCap platform underscores its utility in epidemiological research, which is vital for characterizing and understanding the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and subsequently shaping targeted interventions. Special considerations in online assessment use will be discussed, especially for adults without experience in digital technologies and mitigation strategies will be provided.

Author(s) Disclosures: Nothing to disclose.