Impact of COVID-19 on employment: sociodemographic, medical, psychiatric and neuropsychological correlates

Madison Thompson; Stephen J Ferrando; Rhea Dornbush; Sean Lynch; Sivan Shahar; Lidia Klepacz; Abbas Smiley

doi:10.3389/fresc.2023.1150734

Impact of COVID-19 on employment: sociodemographic, medical, psychiatric and neuropsychological correlates

Front Rehabil Sci. 2023 Jul 11:4:1150734. doi: 10.3389/fresc.2023.1150734. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Madison Thompson¹, Stephen J Ferrando^{1

2}, Rhea Dornbush^{1

2}, Sean Lynch^{1

3}, Sivan Shahar^{1

4}, Lidia Klepacz^{1

2}, Abbas Smiley^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, United States.
² Department of Psychiatry, Westchester Medical Center Health Network, Valhalla, NY, United States.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York, NY, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, United States.
⁵ Department of Surgery, Westchester Medical Center Health Network, Valhalla, NY, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Given the nature of the persistent physical and neuropsychiatric symptoms reported in the literature, among individuals after acute COVID illness; there is growing concern about the functional implications of the Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). We aim to evaluate associations of sociodemographic, medical, psychiatric and neuropsychological factors with employment status post COVID-19.

Methods: 59 participants were administered a neuropsychiatric assessment and queried about employment status and occupational difficulties months after quarantine. Two levels of comparison were conducted: (1) Those who took time off work (TTO) to those with no time off (NTO); (2) Those who reported occupational performance suffered (PS) to those who did not (PDNS).

Results: TTO vs. NTO exhibited extensive differences across medical, psychiatric and neurocognitive domains. PS vs. PDNS differed on subjective measures of physical and cognitive symptoms, but not on objective testing.

Conclusion: Individuals who took time off beyond COVID-19 quarantine experience persistent physical, psychiatric, subjective and objective neurocognitive burden. In contrast, occupational impairment appears to reflect subjective complaints, but not objective measures. Clinical implications are discussed.

Keywords: employment; employment impact; long covid; neuropsychiatric outcomes; post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).