tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
BMC Public Health
. 2025 Apr 15;25(1):1412.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22671-x. Follow-up of long COVID based on the definition of WHO: a multi-centre cross-sectional questionnaire-based study
Danying Yan[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ying Liu[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ran Chen[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Lei Zhou[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Chuwen Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ada Hoi Yan Ma[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Xueqin Chen[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Qifa Song[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Guoqing Qian[SUP] 8 9 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Background: Since long COVID has hindered people from normal life, it is essential to understand its full spectrum of manifestation. However, it was heterogeneous in the existing studies and few large-scale studies have been conducted on Asian populations. Here, we conducted a multi-centre questionnaire-based study among Chinese people to explore the long COVID based on the definition of WHO.
Methods: During March 20, 2023 and June 18, 2023, individuals with a history of confirmed or self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infection were recruited from three hospitals to fill out the questionnaire for long COVID. Each symptom was assigned with 0 to 3 points based on their severity. And the long COVID score was a sum of these points of each symptom. The reporting rate, time trend and risk factors of long COVID stratified by different systems were explored.
Results: 3,693 individuals were recruited for the study. The reporting rate of at least one persistent long COVID symptoms and symptoms impacting daily life was 30.2% (1,117) and 10.7% (394). Systemic symptoms (20.7%, 765) were most easily reported. The most common symptoms were fatigue (16.3%, 602), cough (6.3%, 234) and expectoration (5.5%, 203). The reporting rate of long COVID and long COVID score decreased over time during a 180-day follow-up period (P < 0.05). For long COVID, older age (OR: 1.63, 1.38-1.93), female (OR: 1.19, 1.03-1.38) and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection (OR: 3.56, 2.63-4.80) were risk factors; while number of COVID-19 vaccine doses (OR: 0.87, 0.81-0.94) was a protective factor. The use of traditional Chinese medicine (OR: 0.51, 0.37-0.71) was a protective factor for symptoms impacting daily life.
Conclusions: Early interventions should be taken to minimize the impact of long COVID, especially for the elderly, females and those with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. COVID-19 booster vaccination might play a potential role in minimizing the impact of long COVID.
Keywords: COVID-19; Long COVID; Post COVID-19 syndrome; Survey.
. 2025 Apr 15;25(1):1412.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22671-x. Follow-up of long COVID based on the definition of WHO: a multi-centre cross-sectional questionnaire-based study
Danying Yan[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ying Liu[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ran Chen[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Lei Zhou[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Chuwen Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ada Hoi Yan Ma[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Xueqin Chen[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Qifa Song[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Guoqing Qian[SUP] 8 9 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 40234823
- DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-22671-x
Background: Since long COVID has hindered people from normal life, it is essential to understand its full spectrum of manifestation. However, it was heterogeneous in the existing studies and few large-scale studies have been conducted on Asian populations. Here, we conducted a multi-centre questionnaire-based study among Chinese people to explore the long COVID based on the definition of WHO.
Methods: During March 20, 2023 and June 18, 2023, individuals with a history of confirmed or self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infection were recruited from three hospitals to fill out the questionnaire for long COVID. Each symptom was assigned with 0 to 3 points based on their severity. And the long COVID score was a sum of these points of each symptom. The reporting rate, time trend and risk factors of long COVID stratified by different systems were explored.
Results: 3,693 individuals were recruited for the study. The reporting rate of at least one persistent long COVID symptoms and symptoms impacting daily life was 30.2% (1,117) and 10.7% (394). Systemic symptoms (20.7%, 765) were most easily reported. The most common symptoms were fatigue (16.3%, 602), cough (6.3%, 234) and expectoration (5.5%, 203). The reporting rate of long COVID and long COVID score decreased over time during a 180-day follow-up period (P < 0.05). For long COVID, older age (OR: 1.63, 1.38-1.93), female (OR: 1.19, 1.03-1.38) and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection (OR: 3.56, 2.63-4.80) were risk factors; while number of COVID-19 vaccine doses (OR: 0.87, 0.81-0.94) was a protective factor. The use of traditional Chinese medicine (OR: 0.51, 0.37-0.71) was a protective factor for symptoms impacting daily life.
Conclusions: Early interventions should be taken to minimize the impact of long COVID, especially for the elderly, females and those with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. COVID-19 booster vaccination might play a potential role in minimizing the impact of long COVID.
Keywords: COVID-19; Long COVID; Post COVID-19 syndrome; Survey.