MADRID, 8 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
People who get COVID-19 often experience problems with memory, attention, and concentration, even after they recover from the initial illness. A new study from the University of Waterloo (Belgium) has shown that they also have a “significantly higher” number of cognitive failures at work.
“COVID-19 is going to be an ongoing part of life, at least for the foreseeable future. It is now common for people to get COVID-19, recover and go back to work. However, in our study, People who had contracted COVID-19 reported more difficulties at work,” said James Beck, who is responsible for the research, which has been published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
The researchers collected data from a sample of 94 full-time working adults who had or had not contracted COVID-19 at least one month before the study. Both groups were matched for key demographics.
“Relative to the group that had never had COVID-19, the group that had COVID-19 reported more cognitive failures at work, which are defined as problems with memory, attention, and action,” Beck said.
A second finding of the work is that cognitive failures were associated with decreased self-reported job performance, as well as increased intentions to voluntarily leave the current job.
“These results may have important implications for managers and organizations in general. People returning to work after contracting COVID-19 may find it difficult to return to their pre-COVID level of performance, and may need to perform accommodations. These accommodations could include reducing workload, extending deadlines, or providing flexible work arrangements,” Beck concludes.
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