Abstract:
Background: Post COVID-19 syndrome or Long Covid (LC) is a novel fluctuating condition with a protracted course in some patients. Specialist LC services have been operational in the UK since 2020 and deal with a high caseload of patients. Aims: To evaluate long-term outcomes in patients discharged from a community-based LC specialist service.
Methods: A service evaluation study that included patients who were well engaged in the services [completed the standard Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and received intervention from clinician(s)] and had been discharged for at least 3 months from the service. They consented to the study and completed standard PROMs: COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19-YRS), EQ-5D-5L, and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) criteria for Myalgia Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
Results: Out of 460 patients contacted, 112 (average of 37.6 months since infection and 9.8 months post-discharge) completed the PROMs. 90.2% patients continued to experience LC symptoms and disability and had not returned to their pre-COVID health status. The average EQ-5D-5L index score was 0.53 (SD 0.29) highlighting a significant disability and that LC had become a long-term condition (LTC) in majority of patients who responded to the survey. 43% patients met the criteria for suspected ME/CFS.
Conclusion: A proportion of LC patients develop Persistent Long Covid (PLC) consistent with a LTC and had a significant overlap with ME/CFS.
Source: Bodey, R.; Grimaldi, J.; Tait, H.; Godfrey, B.; Witton, S.; Sharda, J.; Tarrant, R.; Sivan, M. How Long is Long COVID? Evaluation of Long-Term Health Status in Individuals Discharged from a Specialist Community Long COVID Service. Preprints 2024, 2024090813. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0813.v1 https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202409.0813/v1 (Full text available as PDF file)