A Cross-Sectional Study of Symptom Prevalence, Frequency, Severity, and Impact of Long-COVID in Scotland: Part I - 13/08/23
Abstract |
Background |
Commonly reported symptoms of long COVID may have different patterns of prevalence and presentation across different countries. While some limited data have been reported for the United Kingdom, national specificity for Scotland is less clear. We present a cross-sectional survey to examine the symptom prevalence, frequency, and severity of long COVID for people living with the condition in Scotland.
Methods |
An online survey was created in the English language and was available between April 21, 2022 and August 5, 2022. Participants were included if they were ≥18 years old, living in Scotland, and had self-diagnosed or confirmed long COVID; and excluded if they were hospitalized during their initial infection. Within this article we quantify symptom prevalence, frequency, severity, and duration.
Results |
Participants (n = 253) reported the most prevalent long-COVID symptoms to be post-exertional malaise (95%), fatigue/tiredness (85%), and cognitive impairment (68%). Fatigue/tiredness, problems with activities of daily living (ADL), and general pain were most frequently occurring, while sleep difficulties, problems with ADL, and nausea were the most severe. Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation associated with symptom number, severity, and frequency, whereas vaccine status, age, sex, and smoking status had limited or no association.
Conclusions |
These findings outline the challenges faced for those living with long COVID and highlight the need for longitudinal research to ascertain a better understanding of the condition and its longer-term societal impact.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Long COVID, PAIS, PASC, Survey, Symptoms
Plan
Funding: This work was supported by grants from the Chief Scientist Office for Scotland (COV/LTE/20/08). |
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Conflicts of Interest: All authors certify that they have NO declarations of competing interest. The submitted work was not carried out in the presence of any personal, professional, or financial relationships that could potentially be construed as a conflict of interest. |
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Authorship: MM: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, review, & editing, Visualisation, Project administration; LC: Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, review, & editing; EM: Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, review, & editing; JI: Methodology, Software, Writing – original draft, review, & editing; NEMSH: Writing – review & editing; LDH: Methodology, Software, Validation, Funding acquisition; RM: Writing – review & editing; DC: Writing – review & editing; NS: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition |
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