Abstract:
Background: While there is a substantial body of knowledge about acute COVID-19, less is known about long-COVID, where symptoms continue beyond four weeks.
Aim: This study aims to describe longer-term effects of COVID-19 infection in children and young people (CYP) and identify their needs in relation to long-COVID.
Design & setting: This study comprises an observational prospective cohort study and a linked qualitative study, identifying participants aged 8-17 years in the West Midlands of England.
Method: CYP will be invited to complete online questionnaires to monitor incidences and symptoms of Covid-19 over a 12-month period. CYP who have experienced long-term effects of COVID will be invited to interview, and those currently experiencing symptoms will be asked to document their experiences in a diary. Professionals who work with CYP will be invited to explore the impact of long-COVID on the wider experiences of CYP, in a focus group. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe the incidence and rates of resolution of symptoms, and comparisons made between exposed and non-exposed groups. Logistic regression models will be used to estimate associations between candidate predictors and the development of long-COVID, and linear regression will be used to estimate associations between candidate predictors. Qualitative data will be analysed thematically using the constant comparison method.
Conclusion: This study will describe features and symptoms of long-COVID and explore the impact of long-COVID within the lives of CYP and their families, to provide better understanding of long-COVID and inform clinical practice.
Source: Faux-Nightingale A, Burton C, Twohig H, Blagojevic-Bucknall M, Carroll W, Chew-Graham CA, Dunn K, Gilchrist F, Helliwell T, Lawton O, Lawton S, Mallen C, Saunders B, van der Windt D, Welsh V. Symptom patterns and life with post-acute COVID-19 in children aged 8-17: a mixed methods studyprotocol. BJGP Open. 2023 Feb 9:BJGPO.2022.0149. doi: 10.3399/BJGPO.2022.0149. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36759021. https://bjgpopen.org/content/early/2023/02/08/BJGPO.2022.0149 (Full text available as PDF file)