Attributes and predictors of long COVID

Sudre, Carole H.; Murray, Benjamin; Varsavsky, Thomas; Graham, Mark S.; Penfold, Rose; Bowyer, Ruth C E; Pujol, Joan Capdevila; Kläser, Kerstin; Antonelli, Michela; Canas, Liane S; Molteni, Erika; Modat, Marc; Cardoso, M. Jorge; May, Anna; Ganesh, Sajaysurya; Davies, Richard; Nguyen, Long H.; Drew, David A.; Astley, Christina M; Joshi, Amit D.; Merino, Jordi; Tsereteli, Neli; Fall, Tove; Gomez, Maria F.; Duncan, Emma L.; Menni, Cristina; Williams, Frances; Franks, Paul W.; Chan, Andrew T.; Wolf, Jonathan; Ourselin, Sébastien; Spector, Tim D.; Steves, Claire J.

doi:10.1038/s41591-021-01292-y

Cited by 1,969 publications

(2,384 citation statements)

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“…Although prior research has found that older adults are at greater risk of hospitalization than younger adults, in our participant group PASC impacted people in the middle years of life most frequently with 77.0% (n= 3,980) of our participants aged 35-64. We 2 and others 8,12,13 have shown that PASC occurs more frequently in women with an age distribution similar to this study. Our participants were also largely not hospitalized, indicating a less severe initial course.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

COVID-19 Survivors’ Reports of the Timing, Duration, and Health Impacts of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) Infection

Lambert

Corps²,

El-Azab

et al. 2021

Preprint

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IMPORTANCE: Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC) is a major public health concern since studies suggest that 1 in 3 infected with SARS-CoV-2 may develop PASC, including those without initial symptoms or with mild COVID-19 disease.1, 2 OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the timing, duration, and health impacts of PASC reported by a large group of primarily non-hospitalized COVID-19 survivors. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A survey of 5,163 COVID-19 survivors reporting symptoms for more than 21 days following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants were recruited from Survivor Corps and other online COVID-19 survivor support groups. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Participants reported demographic information, as well as the timing, duration, health impacts, and other attributes of PASC. The temporal distribution of symptoms, including average time to symptom onset and duration of symptoms were determined, as well as the perceived distress and impact on ability to work. RESULTS: On average, participants reported 21.4 symptoms and the number of symptoms ranged from 1 to 93. The most common symptoms were fatigue (79.0%), headache (55.3%), shortness of breath (55.3%), difficulty concentrating (53.6%), cough (49.0%), changed sense of taste (44.9%), diarrhea (43.9%), and muscle or body aches (43.5%). The timing of symptom onset varied and is best described as happening in waves. The longest lasting symptoms on average for all participants (in days) were "frequently changing" symptoms (112.0), inability to exercise (106.5), fatigue (101.7), difficulty concentrating (101.1), memory problems (100.8), sadness (99.2), hormone imbalance (99.1), and shortness of breath (96.9). The symptoms that affected ability to work were changing symptoms, inability to concentrate, fatigue, and memory problems, among others. Symptoms causing the greatest level of distress (on scale of 1 "none" to 5 "a great deal") were extreme pressure at the base of the head (4.4), syncope (4.3), sharp or sudden chest pain (4.2), brain pressure (4.2), headache (4.2), persistent chest pain or pressure (4.1), and bone pain in extremities (4.1). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: PASC is an emerging public health priority characterized by a wide range of changing symptoms and hindering survivors' ability to work. PASC has not been fully characterized and the trajectory of symptoms and long-term outcomes are unknown. There is no treatment for PASC, and survivors report distress in addition to a host of ongoing symptoms. Capturing patient reports of symptoms through open-ended inquiry is a critical first step in accurately and comprehensively characterizing PASC to ensure that medical treatments and symptom management strategies best meet the needs of patients and help mitigate health impacts of this new disease.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

COVID-19 Survivors’ Reports of the Timing, Duration, and Health Impacts of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) Infection

Lambert

Corps²,

El-Azab

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…15,25 Persistent fatigue in both those hospitalised and not has been a common finding in several studies. 3,25,27 In common with other studies, we found high rates of post-COVID-19 diabetes in the hospitalised 24 ; diabetes was also one of the diseases with the largest hospital-community differences. A bidirectional relationship has been postulated between diabetes and COVID-19, with diabetes leading to higher risk of infection and worse outcomes but also some evidence that COVID-19 may precipitate diabetes.…”

Section: Comparison With Related Studiessupporting

confidence: 89%

Post-acute COVID-19 sequelae in cases managed in the community or hospital in the UK: a population based study

Whittaker

Gulea

Koteci

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Objective To compare post-COVID-19 sequelae between hospitalised and non-hospitalised individuals Design Population-based cohort study Setting 1,383 general practices in England contributing to Clinical Practice Research Database Aurum Participants 46,687 COVID-19 cases diagnosed between 1st August to 17th October 2020 (45.4% male; mean age 40), either hospitalised within two weeks of diagnosis or non-hospitalised, and followed-up for a maximum of three months. Main outcome measures Event rates of new symptoms, diseases, prescriptions and healthcare utilisation in hospitalised and non-hospitalised individuals, with between-group comparison using Cox regression. Outcomes compared at 6 and 12 months prior to index date, equating to first UK wave and pre-pandemic. Non-hospitalised group outcomes stratified by age and sex. Results 45,272 of 46,687 people were non-hospitalised; 1,415 hospitalised. Hospitalised patients had higher rates of 13/26 symptoms and 11/19 diseases post-COVID-19 than the community group, received more prescriptions and utilised more healthcare. The largest differences were noted for rates per 100,000 person-weeks [95%CI] of breathlessness: 536 [432 to 663] v. 85 [77 to 93]; joint pain: 295 [221 to 392] v. 168 [158 to 179]; diabetes: 303 [225 to 416] v. 36 [32 to 42], hypertension: 244 [178 to 344] v. 47 [41 to 53]. Although low, rates of chest tightness, tinnitus and lung fibrosis were higher in the community group. 4.2% (1882/45,272) of the community group had a post-acute burden, most frequently reporting anxiety, breathlessness, chest pain and fatigue. In those non-hospitalised, age and sex differences existed in outcome rates. Healthcare utilisation in the community group increased 28.5% post-COVID-19 relative to pre-pandemic. Conclusions Post-COVID-19 sequelae differ between hospitalised and non-hospitalised individuals, with age and sex-specific differences in those non-hospitalised. Most COVID-19 cases managed in the community do not report ongoing issues to healthcare professionals. Post-COVID-19 follow-up and management strategies need to be tailored to specific groups.

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“…Many of our findings are largely in agreement with other recent studies in Chinese and Russian populations, which also found high rates of breathlessness and fatigue 4,5 . In the community setting, a recent mobile application-based study, described very high rates of breathlessness (71%) and fatigue (98%) in those reporting symptoms persisting over 28 days 2 . Interestingly, in our population, the presence of symptoms many months after initial infection are higher than the 76% reported by Huang et al and three times higher than that reported by Munblit et al There are several reasons why we have found higher rates, which could be related to those responding to each study, or the severity of disease across the different study populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long Covid in adults discharged from UK hospitals after Covid-19: A prospective, multicentre cohort study using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol

Sigfrid

Drake

Pauley

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Structured Abstract Objectives: The long-term consequences of severe Covid-19 requiring hospital admission are not well characterised. The objective of this study was to establish the long-term effects of Covid-19 following hospitalisation and the impact these may have on patient reported outcome measures. Design: A multicentre, prospective cohort study with at least 3 months follow-up of participants admitted to hospital between 5th February 2020 and 5th October 2020. Setting: 31 hospitals in the United Kingdom. Participants: 327 hospitalised participants discharged alive from hospital with confirmed/high likelihood SARS-CoV-2 infection. Main outcome measures and comparisons: The primary outcome was self-reported recovery at least ninety days after initial Covid-19 symptom onset. Secondary outcomes included new symptoms, new or increased disability (Washington group short scale), breathlessness (MRC Dyspnoea scale) and quality of life (EQ5D-5L). We compared these outcome measures across age, comorbidity status and in-hospital Covid-19 severity to identify groups at highest risk of developing long-term difficulties. Multilevel logistic and linear regression models were built to adjust for the effects of patient and centre level risk factors on these outcomes. Results: In total 53.7% (443/824) contacted participants responded, yielding 73.8% (327/443) responses with follow-up of 90 days or more from symptom onset. The median time between symptom onset of initial illness and completing the participant questionnaire was 222 days (Interquartile range (IQR) 189 to 269 days). In total, 54.7% (179/327) of participants reported they did not feel fully recovered. Persistent symptoms were reported by 93.3% (305/325) of participants, with fatigue the most common (82.8%, 255/308), followed by breathlessness (53.5%, 175/327). 46.8% (153/327) reported an increase in MRC dyspnoea scale of at least one grade. New or worse disability was reported by 24.2% (79/327) of participants. Overall (EQ5D-5L) summary index was significantly worse at the time of follow-up (median difference 0.1 points on a scale of 0 to 1, IQR: -0.2 to 0.0). Females under the age of 50 years were five times less likely to report feeling recovered (adjusted OR 5.09, 95% CI 1.64 to 15.74), were more likely to have greater disability (adjusted OR 4.22, 95% CI 1.12 to 15.94), twice as likely to report worse fatigue (adjusted OR 2.06, 95% CI 0.81 to 3.31) and seven times more likely to become more breathless (adjusted OR 7.15, 95% CI 2.24 to 22.83) than men of the same age. Conclusions: Survivors of Covid-19 experienced long-term symptoms, new disability, increased breathlessness, and reduced quality of life. These findings were present even in young, previously healthy working age adults, and were most common in younger females. Policymakers should fund further research to identify effective treatments for long-Covid and ensure healthcare, social care and welfare support is available for individuals with long-Covid.

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Attributes and predictors of long COVID

Cited by 1,969 publications

References 12 publications

COVID-19 Survivors’ Reports of the Timing, Duration, and Health Impacts of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) Infection

COVID-19 Survivors’ Reports of the Timing, Duration, and Health Impacts of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) Infection

Post-acute COVID-19 sequelae in cases managed in the community or hospital in the UK: a population based study

Long Covid in adults discharged from UK hospitals after Covid-19: A prospective, multicentre cohort study using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol

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