2025/03/27 by Brendan Jacka, Qinglu Cheng, Benjamin Schiavone +4 · 1 voice
Medicine · #Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 #Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders #Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/ofid/ofaf142
openalex publication_date 2025/03/27 · openalex created_date 2025/03/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Background: Individuals with postacute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), or long COVID, experience substantial burden of illness many months after initial infection. Few studies have comprehensively and longitudinally assessed health outcomes for people with long COVID following mild/moderate infection. We applied the Wilson-Cleary model of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) to describe the impact of long COVID on multiple health dimensions up to 24 months following mild/moderate COVID-19. Methods: Participants within the ADAPT post-COVID study (N = 172, 86% mild/moderate infection) completed structured patient-reported outcome measures at 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months postinfection. Following the Wilson-Cleary model, questionnaires assessed symptoms (anxiety/depression, chronic fatigue, breathlessness), return to pre-COVID-19 functioning, perceived health status (EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale), and wellbeing (EuroQol EQ-5D-5L, Personal Wellbeing Index). Temporal trends were assessed using general estimating equations and ordinal logistic regression, including time × long COVID interactions. Results: Thirty-seven percent of participants were diagnosed with long COVID (≥1 new/persisting symptoms of chest pain, breathlessness, or fatigue/malaise at least 12 weeks after infection). Long COVID was associated with poorer health outcomes across all domains at first assessment. Over 2 years, participants with long COVID reported improvement in return to pre-COVID-19 work and Somatic and Psychological Health Report chronic fatigue but sustained impairment was observed in all other health domains, compared to participants recovered from COVID-19. Conclusions: Substantial long-term impairment in various health domains were observed for individuals with long COVID following mild/moderate initial infection, with little improvement over time in most. Multimodal interventions must address impairment in multiple domains of HRQOL in individuals with long COVID.