Article type
Abstract
Background: According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) assessment, 10% to 20% of COVID-19 patients will experience persistent or recurrent residual symptoms for weeks to months after infection. Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of "Long COVID" by employing the CDC definition, which encompasses a range of symptoms persisting for at least 4 weeks following the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Methods: Ovid Embase, Ovid MEDLINE(R) were systematically searched from inception to 2023 February to identify studies reporting HR/RR/OR, or other effect size related to Long COVID, as well as studies reporting the prevalence of Long COVID or data that could be used to indirectly calculate the prevalence. Results: A total of 486 relevant studies were included in the analysis on prevalence of Long COVID, with observation periods ranging from 28 days and more to 730 days after COVID-19 infection. Prospective cohort studies were the most common type of study, accounting for 172 studies (36.3%). Compared with individuals who have not been infected with novel coronavirus, the risk of developing Long COVID in COVID-19 patients significantly increases at 1 month (170 symptoms, 68.5%), 3 months (165 symptoms, 67.6%), 6 months (96 symptoms, 78.7%), and 12 months (48 symptoms, 78.7%) after infection. Among COVID-19 patients who were not hospitalized, a total of 277 and 238 symptoms were reported within 1-3 months and after 3 month, respectively, with fatigue being the most commonly reported symptom, accounting for 25.60% (50 studies) and 25.28% (69 studies), respectively. Among COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized but not in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 128 symptoms were reported within 1-3 months after infection, with difficulty breathing being the most commonly reported symptom (22 studies, 23.19%), and 165 symptoms were reported after 3 months, with fatigue being the most commonly reported symptom (43 studies, 31.55%). Conclusion: Long-term symptoms in COVID-19 patients are mostly a combination of physical and psychological symptoms. Compared with those uninfected individuals, the risk of developing long-term symptoms in COVID-19 infected patients is significantly increased, and one year later their overall health level is still lower than that of uninfected individuals.
Methods: Ovid Embase, Ovid MEDLINE(R) were systematically searched from inception to 2023 February to identify studies reporting HR/RR/OR, or other effect size related to Long COVID, as well as studies reporting the prevalence of Long COVID or data that could be used to indirectly calculate the prevalence. Results: A total of 486 relevant studies were included in the analysis on prevalence of Long COVID, with observation periods ranging from 28 days and more to 730 days after COVID-19 infection. Prospective cohort studies were the most common type of study, accounting for 172 studies (36.3%). Compared with individuals who have not been infected with novel coronavirus, the risk of developing Long COVID in COVID-19 patients significantly increases at 1 month (170 symptoms, 68.5%), 3 months (165 symptoms, 67.6%), 6 months (96 symptoms, 78.7%), and 12 months (48 symptoms, 78.7%) after infection. Among COVID-19 patients who were not hospitalized, a total of 277 and 238 symptoms were reported within 1-3 months and after 3 month, respectively, with fatigue being the most commonly reported symptom, accounting for 25.60% (50 studies) and 25.28% (69 studies), respectively. Among COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized but not in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 128 symptoms were reported within 1-3 months after infection, with difficulty breathing being the most commonly reported symptom (22 studies, 23.19%), and 165 symptoms were reported after 3 months, with fatigue being the most commonly reported symptom (43 studies, 31.55%). Conclusion: Long-term symptoms in COVID-19 patients are mostly a combination of physical and psychological symptoms. Compared with those uninfected individuals, the risk of developing long-term symptoms in COVID-19 infected patients is significantly increased, and one year later their overall health level is still lower than that of uninfected individuals.