2025/02/05 by Hannah Mandel, Yun Jae Yoo, Andrea J. Allen +43 · 2 voices · 28 citations
Medicine · #Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 #COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies #Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research
paper · doi:10.1093/cid/ciaf046
BACKGROUND: Incidence estimates of post-acute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, also known as long COVID, have varied across studies and changed over time. We estimated long COVID incidence among adult and pediatric populations in 3 nationwide research networks of electronic health records (EHRs) participating in the RECOVER (Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery) Initiative using different classification algorithms (computable phenotypes). METHODS: This EHR-based retrospective cohort study included adult and pediatric patients with documented acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and 2 control groups: contemporary coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-negative and historical patients (2019). We examined the proportion of individuals identified as having symptoms or conditions consistent with probable long COVID within 30-180 days after COVID-19 infection (incidence proportion). Each network (the National COVID Cohort Collaborative [N3C], National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network [PCORnet], and PEDSnet) implemented its own long COVID definition. We introduced a harmonized definition for adults in a supplementary analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 4% of children and 10%-26% of adults developed long COVID, depending on computable phenotype used. Excess incidence among SARS-CoV-2 patients was 1.5% in children and ranged from 5% to 6% among adults, representing a lower-bound incidence estimation based on our control groups. Temporal patterns were consistent across networks, with peaks associated with introduction of new viral variants. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that preventing and mitigating long COVID remains a public health priority. Examining temporal patterns and risk factors for long COVID incidence informs our understanding of etiology and can improve prevention and management.