Oculomotor Behaviour in Individuals with Long COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Neurology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Long COVID-19, a persistent condition post-SARS-CoV-2 infection, can manifest with diverse neurological symptoms.
• Oculomotor behavior, crucial for visual processing and daily tasks, may be affected by post-viral complications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of long COVID-19 on oculomotor behavior using standardized eye movement assessments.
• To compare oculomotor performance between individuals with long COVID-19 and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 75 long COVID-19 cases and 42 healthy controls.
• Utilized the Adult Developmental Eye Movement Test and an eye-tracking test with a visual search paradigm.
• Assessed parameters including reading times, fixation duration, number of fixations, and time to target acquisition.

Main Results:

• Long COVID-19 cases exhibited significantly prolonged horizontal and vertical reading times (p < .0001).
• Eye-tracking revealed a higher number of fixations (p < .0001) and longer fixation duration (p = .0013) in cases.
• Cases also showed a longer time to find the target (p = .0034) compared to controls.

Conclusions:

• Individuals with long COVID-19 demonstrate impaired oculomotor behavior compared to healthy individuals.
• The observed deficits may be linked to cognitive alterations rather than primary ocular muscle dysfunction.
• The employed eye movement tests show promise as clinical assessment tools for long COVID-19 patients.