Presentation of long COVID and associated risk factors in a mobile health study

Abstract

Background The Covid Collab study was a citizen science mobile health research project set up in June 2020 to monitor COVID-19 symptoms and mental health through questionnaire self-reports and passive wearable device data. Methods Using mobile health data, we consider whether a participant is suffering from long COVID in two ways. Firstly, by whether the participant has a persistent change in a physiological signal commencing at a diagnosis of COVID-19 that last for at least twelve weeks. Secondly, by whether a participant has self-reported persistent symptoms for at least twelve weeks. We assess sociodemographic and wearable-based risk factors for the development of long COVID according to the above two categorisations. Findings Persistent changes to physiological signals measured by com- mercial fitness wearables, including heart rate, sleep, and activity, are visible following a COVID-19 infection and may help differentiate people who develop long COVID. Anxiety and depression are significantly and persistently affected at a group level following a COVID-19 infection. We found the level of activity undertaken in the year prior to illness was protective against long COVID and that symptoms of depression before and during the acute illness may be a risk factor. Interpretation Mobile health and wearable devices may prove to be a useful resource for tracking recovery and presence of long-term sequelae to COVID-19. Mental wellbeing is significantly negatively effected on average for an extended period of time following a COVID-19 infection.

The association between Long-COVID symptomology, perceived symptom burden and mental health in COVID-19 patients in Shijiazhuang, China: a population-based health survey

“…There is also a lack of mental health rehabilitation services, and the utilisation of telemedicine is also low mainly due to the limited access to facilities (47). With such limited resources, well-designed and validated preventive programs using a mHealth approach for early detection, intervention, treatment and management are urgently needed for the patient population with LC symptoms (48,49).…”

A descriptive study of the clinical impacts on COVID-19 survivors using telemonitoring (The TeleCOVID Study)

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