Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ, USA.
Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 23;12(1):9950. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13495-5.
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analyses is to estimate the prevalence of long-COVID in children and adolescents and to present the full spectrum of symptoms present after acute COVID-19. We have used PubMed and Embase to identify observational studies published before February 10th, 2022 that included a minimum of 30 patients with ages ranging from 0 to 18 years that met the National Institute for Healthcare Excellence (NICE) definition of long-COVID, which consists of both ongoing (4 to 12 weeks) and post-COVID-19 (≥ 12 weeks) symptoms. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed using the MetaXL software to estimate the pooled prevalence with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity was assessed using I statistics. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviewers and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) reporting guideline was followed (registration PROSPERO CRD42021275408). The literature search yielded 8373 publications, of which 21 studies met the inclusion criteria, and a total of 80,071 children and adolescents were included. The prevalence of long-COVID was 25.24%, and the most prevalent clinical manifestations were mood symptoms (16.50%), fatigue (9.66%), and sleep disorders (8.42%). Children infected by SARS-CoV-2 had a higher risk of persistent dyspnea, anosmia/ageusia, and/or fever compared to controls. Limitations of the studies analyzed include lack of standardized definitions, recall, selection, misclassification, nonresponse and/or loss of follow-up, and a high level of heterogeneity.
本系统评价和荟萃分析的目的是估计儿童和青少年长新冠的患病率，并呈现急性新冠后出现的所有症状谱。我们使用 PubMed 和 Embase 确定了 2022 年 2 月 10 日之前发表的观察性研究，这些研究纳入了至少 30 名年龄在 0 至 18 岁之间的患者，符合国家卫生保健卓越研究所 (NICE) 对长新冠的定义，该定义包括持续（4 至 12 周）和新冠后（≥12 周）症状。使用 MetaXL 软件进行随机效应荟萃分析，以估计合并患病率及其 95%置信区间 (CI)。使用 I 统计量评估异质性。遵循系统评价和荟萃分析的 Preferred Reporting Items（PRISMA）报告指南（PROSPERO CRD42021275408 注册）。文献检索产生了 8373 篇出版物，其中 21 项研究符合纳入标准，共有 80071 名儿童和青少年纳入研究。长新冠的患病率为 25.24%，最常见的临床表现是情绪症状（16.50%）、疲劳（9.66%）和睡眠障碍（8.42%）。与对照组相比，感染 SARS-CoV-2 的儿童持续呼吸困难、嗅觉/味觉丧失和/或发热的风险更高。分析的研究存在的局限性包括缺乏标准化定义、回忆、选择、分类错误、无应答和/或失访以及高度异质性。
