Tag: Korea

Long COVID prevalence and impact on quality of life 2 years after acute COVID-19

Abstract:

There has been an increasing interest in the long-term impact of long COVID. However, only a few studies have investigated the clinical manifestations of long COVID after 24 months of acute infection. In this study, prospective online surveys were conducted in adults previously diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Korea between February 13 and March 13, 2020, at 6, 12, and 24 months after COVID-19.

We investigated self-reported symptoms and the EuroQol-5-dimension index. Among 900 individuals enrolled initially, 150 completed all 3 surveys. After excluding the cases of COVID-19 reinfection, 132 individuals were included in the final analysis. Among the 132 participants, 94 (71.2%) experienced symptoms of long COVID. The most frequently reported symptoms were fatigue (34.8%), amnesia (30.3%), concentration difficulties (24.2%), insomnia (20.5%), and depression (19.7%). Notably, no significant differences were noted in the incidence of long COVID at 24 months in terms of the number of vaccinations received.

Although the neuropsychiatric quality of life improved over time, it continued to affect 32.7% of participants. Symptoms of long COVID, particularly neuropsychiatric symptoms, tend to persist over time, and COVID-19 vaccination or the number of vaccinations received may not significantly affect the incidence of long COVID.

Source: Kim Y, Bae S, Chang HH, Kim SW. Long COVID prevalence and impact on quality of life 2 years after acute COVID-19. Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 11;13(1):11207. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-36995-4. PMID: 37433819. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36995-4 (Full text)

Nationwide epidemiological characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome in South Korea

Abstract:

Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a long-term disabling illness accompanied by medically unexplained fatigue. This study aimed to explore the epidemiological characteristics of CFS in South Korea.

Methods: Using the nationwide medical records provided by the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA), we analyzed the entire dataset for CFS patients diagnosed by physicians in South Korea from January 2010 to December 2020.

Results: The annual mean incidence of CFS was estimated to be 44.71 ± 6.10 cases per 100,000 individuals [95% CI: 40.57, 48.76], and the prevalence rate was 57.70 ± 12.20 cases per 100,000 individuals [95% CI: 49.40, 65.79]. These two rates increased by 1.53- and 1.94-fold from 2010 to 2020, respectively, and showed an increasing trend with aging and an approximately 1.5-fold female predominance.

Conclusions: This study is the first to report the nationwide epidemiological features of CFS, which reflects the clinical reality of CFS diagnosis and care in South Korea. This study will be a valuable reference for studies of CFS in the future.

Source: Lim EJ, Lee JS, Lee EJ, Jeong SJ, Park HY, Ahn YC, Son CG. Nationwide epidemiological characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome in South Korea. J Transl Med. 2021 Dec 7;19(1):502. doi: 10.1186/s12967-021-03170-0. PMID: 34876158. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34876158/

Prevalence of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in Korea and Japan: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract:

Background: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a long-term disabling illness accompanied by fatigue unsolved by rest. However, ME/CFS is a poorly understood illness that lacks a universally accepted pathophysiology and treatment. A lack of CFS-related studies have been conducted in Asian countries. This study aimed to estimate and compare the prevalence of ME/CFS in Korea and Japan and conducted a meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and KMBASE for population-based prevalence studies of the two countries and synthesized the data according to the Fukuda case definition.

Results: Of the eight studies (five in Korea, three in Japan) included, the total prevalence rate of Korean studies was 0.77% (95% CI 0.34-1.76), and 0.76% (95% CI 0.46-1.25) for the Japanese studies. The prevalence rate in females was approximately two-fold higher than males in Korean studies (1.31% female vs. 0.60% male), while the gender difference was less obvious in Japanese studies (0.76% female vs. 0.65% male).

Conclusions: Further epidemiology studies on the female ME/CFS prevalence rate between countries may be required.

Source: Lim EJ, Son CG. Prevalence of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in Korea and Japan: A Meta-Analysis. J Clin Med. 2021 Jul 21;10(15):3204. doi: 10.3390/jcm10153204. PMID: 34361987. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34361987/

Comparison of Fatigue Severity and Quality of Life between Unexplained Fatigue Patients and Explained Fatigue Patients

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Recently, despite the high prevalence of fatigue in patients, there is a lack of research on the quality of life (QoL) in unexplained fatigue patients, indicating that they are not properly diagnosed and treated. The aim of this study was to compare fatigue severity and QoL between patients with explained and unexplained fatigue.

METHODS: The study consisted of 200 Korean adults who complained of fatigue without underlying disease. Fatigue Severity Scale, Short Form Health Survey-36 version 2 (SF-36v2), and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) self-questionnaires were administered. Participants were dichotomized to two groups, namely, patients with unexplained or explained fatigue, sorted according to laboratory examination results. The chi-square test, t-test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used, and analysis of covariance was calculated after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, and physical component summary (PCS) of SF-36v2 or BDI-II.

RESULTS: PCS of SF-36v2 between the two groups showed significant difference. Compared to patients with explained fatigue, those with unexplained fatigue showed lower physical component scores of QoL.

CONCLUSION: QoL of patients with unexplained fatigue could largely diminish than those with explained fatigue. The primary clinician should be aware of poor QoL in patients with unexplained fatigue to identify who is in need of more attention and intervention.

Source: Yoo EH, Choi ES, Cho SH, Do JH, Lee SJ, Kim JH. Comparison of Fatigue Severity and Quality of Life between Unexplained Fatigue Patients and Explained Fatigue Patients. Korean J Fam Med. 2018 May;39(3):180-184. doi: 10.4082/kjfm.2018.39.3.180. Epub 2018 May 18.  http://kjfm.or.kr/journal/view.php?doi=10.4082/kjfm.2018.39.3.180 (Full article)

Prevalence of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in Korea: community-based primary care study

Abstract:

There have been many epidemiological and clinical researches on chronic fatigue (CF) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) since the 1990s, but such studies have been quite limited in Korea. The aim of this study was to investigate the point prevalence of CF and CFS in patients who visited community-based eight primary care clinics in Korea. The study subjects were 1,648 patients aged 18 yr and over who visited one of eight primary care clinics in Korea between the 7th and 17th of May 2001. The physicians determined the status of the subjects through fatigue-related questionnaires, medical history, physical examination, and laboratory tests. The subjects were categorized into no fatigue, prolonged fatigue, CF and then CF were further classified to medically explained CF (Physical CF and Psychological CF) and medically unexplained CF (CFS and idiopathic chronic fatigue). The point prevalence of CF and CFS were 8.4% (95% CI 7.1-9.7%) and 0.6% (95% CI 0.2-1.0%). Medically explained CF was 80.5% of CF, of which 57.1% had psychological causes. The clinical characteristics of CFS were distinguished from explained CF. CF was common but CFS was rare in community-based primary care settings in Korea.

 

Source: Kim CH, Shin HC, Won CW. Prevalence of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in Korea: community-based primary care study. J Korean Med Sci. 2005 Aug;20(4):529-34. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782143/ (Full article)