The hidden impact of Covid-19 on memory: Disclosing subjective complaints

Objective: A significant body of research has suggested that the contraction ofSARS-CoV-2 may cause memory impairment, even in the months following recovery.In this regard, studies suggest that COVID-19 predominantly targets structures andcortices within the temporal lobe, and the hippocampus, a critical brain structure formemory and spatial navigation.The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on subjective memory complaints, which represent anindividual’s perception of subtle changes in memory in the absence of an objectivememory impairment.Method: to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic may affect subjective memorycomplaints, we incorporated ad hoc self-reported measures of subjective memorycomplaints, the "Subjective Memory Complaints Questionnaire" (SMCQ) and the"Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire" (PRMQ), in our crosssectional study. Both measures referred to two periods: the pre-pandemic period (T0)and the moment of survey administration (T1) (December 28th, 2021, to February 6th,2022).Results: 207 Italian participants accessed the survey, out of which 189 participantswere included in the final sample. The majority of the participants were females,and their age ranged from 55 to 65 years. The study revealed a significant increasein the total PRMQ score at T1 compared to T0 (p = 0.02). However, no significantdifferences were found between PRMQ and SMCQ scores of COVID-19-negativeindividuals and those who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 12 months fromthe date of completing the survey. McNemar's test showed a statistically significantincrease in the score of item 1 (“Do you think that you have a memory problem?”(p = 0.016) and item 10 (“Do you lose objects more often than you did previously”)(0.019) of the SMCQ, while for the PRMQ, significant increases were found inseveral individual items.Conclusions: our study suggests that subjective memory complaints increasedduring the pandemic, potentially due to the compound effects of stress and socialisolation, rather than solely due to COVID-19 infection. Although a marginalassociation between COVID-19 and reported prospective memory issues wasdetected, further investigation is warranted to understand its persistent effects.