DEVELOPMENT OF A QUICK SUITABLE SCREENING TEST TO ASSESS POST-COVID-19 COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION IN THE SETTING OF ROUTINE PILOT AEROMEDICAL EXAMINATIONS.

INTRODUCTION: Post-COVID-19 impairments can occur following acute infections that are mild or asymptomatic. While flight deck personnel are generally young, fit, healthy, well educated, and largely vaccinated, (and therefore at lower risk of being severely ill in the acute phase or developing Post COVID-19 Condition), nonetheless, there will be pilots who develop prolonged impairment. A sufficiently sensitive and valid screen of cognitive function is likely to be highly beneficial to identify individuals who may require more extensive neuropsychological evaluation. Hence, this study aims to develop quick suitable screening tests for post-COVID-19 cognitive dysfunction with validation via a modi- fied Delphi survey. METHODS: Preliminary to this study was a systematic literature search and narrative review of neurocognitive impairments in post-COVID-19 conditions and its screening tests likely relevant to pilot performance. After a thorough review, screening tests that were revealed to be effective in screening difficulties with very demanding skills for airline pilots' performance were identified and sent to panellists for evaluation and validation with a modified Delphi method. The panel was multidisciplinary and mainly contained aerospace medicine specialists and aviation psychologists. RESULTS: A total of 18 experts were involved with a response rate of 88.88%. Initially, we identified thirteen screening tools based on their ability to detect COVID-19-related impairment. From this group, we have shortlisted the Trail Making Test parts A/B, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, and Stroop Colour-Word Test as potentially effective tools for assessing skills, such as attention and executive functioning, that are both affected by COVID-19 and predictive of pilot performance. We also included The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test and Psychomotor Vigilance Test in the development process due to their wide utilisation and suitability of applications in the aerospace sectors. CONCLUSION: The Trail Making Test parts A & B and Symbol Digit Modalities Test were selected as suitable screening tools to detect post-COVID-19 cognitive dysfunction for airline pilots in routine aeromedical examinations. These tests were selected due to their sensitivity, effectiveness, utility, availability in multiple versions, and economical tests for Aviation Medical Examiners. Moreover, they were utilized to assess cognitive impairment in Long COVID and demonstrated good predictive values. Learning Objectives 1. The participants will learn about the importance of identifying individuals with post-COVID-19 neurocognitive dysfunction for further investigation. 2. The audience will be able to understand quick and suitable clinical neurocognitive screening tests for post-COVID-19 conditions. 3. The participants will discuss the appropriateness of screening tests for neurocognitive impairment in post-COVID-19 conditions focusing on attention and executive functioning, particularly for airline pilots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]