University of South Alabama, College of Medicine at Mobile, AL, USA.
University of South Alabama, College of Medicine at Mobile, AL, USA.
Public Health. 2023 Aug;221:135-141. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2023.06.008. Epub 2023 Jul 12.
Long COVID can significantly impact a patient's quality of life. Defined as persistence or emergence of symptoms 4+ weeks after initial COVID-19 diagnosis, long COVID can result in functional impairments, pulmonary issues, and neuropsychiatric conditions, among others. This study aims to identify long COVID risk factors and prevalence in a south Alabama (US) patient population.
This was a longitudinal cohort study.
Postdiagnosis standardized phone interviews (baseline, 6 months, and 12 months) from April 2020 to July 2021 with patients testing positive through a large healthcare system. Interviews gathered data on sociodemographics, comorbidities, acute illness, and long COVID. Relationships between 1+ ongoing symptoms and variables of interest were assessed using a generalized estimating equation to conduct multivariate analysis.
Of the 516 participants, most were female (65%) and African American (57%, n = 293), with a median (interquartile range) age of 41.1 (25.3-54.6) years. Retention was 70% (n = 359) at 6 months and 58% (n = 301) at 12 months. Participants reporting 1+ persistent symptoms were 20% and 17% at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Illness severity (P < 0.0001) and COVID-related emergency room visit with hospital admission at the time of diagnosis (P = 0.0018) were significantly associated with increased long COVID risk.
This study found substantial rates of long COVID within our population, with stable rates at 6 and 12 months, indicating illness persistence. Our findings support growing concern for long COVID as a persistent issue within the medical community, with potential to impact patient health for years. Larger, more uniform studies are required to further characterize disease risk factors and clinical course to inform the disease management.
新冠长期症状可能显著影响患者的生活质量。新冠长期症状被定义为在初次新冠感染诊断后 4 周以上出现或持续的症状，可能导致功能损伤、肺部问题和神经精神疾病等。本研究旨在确定美国阿拉巴马州南部患者群体的新冠长期症状风险因素和流行率。
这是一项纵向队列研究。
对 2020 年 4 月至 2021 年 7 月期间通过大型医疗系统检测呈阳性的患者进行诊断后标准化电话随访（基线、6 个月和 12 个月）。访谈收集了社会人口统计学、合并症、急性疾病和新冠长期症状的数据。使用广义估计方程评估 1 种及以上持续症状与感兴趣变量之间的关系，进行多变量分析。
516 名参与者中，大多数为女性（65%，n=293）和非裔美国人（57%，n=293），中位（四分位距）年龄为 41.1（25.3-54.6）岁。6 个月时的保留率为 70%（n=359），12 个月时为 58%（n=301）。分别有 20%和 17%的参与者在 6 个月和 12 个月时报告有 1 种及以上持续症状。疾病严重程度（P<0.0001）和诊断时与 COVID 相关的急诊就诊并住院（P=0.0018）与新冠长期症状风险增加显著相关。
本研究在我们的人群中发现了相当比例的新冠长期症状，6 个月和 12 个月时的稳定率表明疾病持续存在。我们的发现支持了新冠长期症状作为医疗界一个持续存在的问题的日益关注，这可能对患者健康产生多年影响。需要进行更大、更统一的研究，以进一步确定疾病的风险因素和临床病程，为疾病管理提供信息。
