Barata Andreia, Sebastião Manuela, Sampaio Nelma, Lima Luana, Cruz Isa, Antunes Isabel
Family Medicine, Primary Health Care Unit - USF Amatus, Castelo Branco, PRT.
Cureus. 2024 Nov 14;16(11):e73655. doi: 10.7759/cureus.73655. eCollection 2024 Nov.
Long COVID is a recent pathological entity. Its manifestations and impact on health and quality of life and, on a larger scale, at an economic and social level may be very significant, reflecting a challenge for the future. The family doctor plays a major role in the care of these patients and must be aware of this new reality. With this study, we aim to determine the prevalence of long COVID in the adult population registered in a Portuguese Primary Healthcare Unit, called USF Amatus, and identify the most frequent symptoms, its duration, and impact on the quality of life of individuals.
This is a retrospective study based on the analysis of the national database of COVID-19 (Trace COVID-19), selecting patients ≥ 18 years old registered in USF Amatus, diagnosed with mild COVID-19, in the period between March 2020 and March 2022. The selected patients were submitted to a telephone interview to fill a questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization "Report Form for Post COVID Condition" to the Portuguese population by the Directorate-General of Health (DGS). The collected data were analyzed using statistical software (R Development Core Team; Vienna, Austria) and the package "ggplot2".
A total sample of 334 (56% female) was recruited for this study. The prevalence of long COVID was found to be 145 (43.4%) cases in the near months (≥ 3 months) following COVID-19 and 57 (17.1%) cases after two years. The most frequently reported symptoms were fatigue, persistent muscle pain, post-exercise malaise, memory loss, leg/arm weakness, and dizziness/lightheadedness. About 58 (17.4%) patients reported that their self-care capacity became worse after COVID-19. In the further evaluation of functional status, 56 (16.8%) patients reported that walking a distance of at least 1 km is more difficult nowadays, and 29 (8.7%) reported that performing household tasks became harder.
This study demonstrates the relevance of long COVID. The findings reveal a significant prevalence of symptomatic patients even two years after the infection with SARS-CoV-2. The most commonly reported symptom was fatigue. Other prevalent symptoms were neurocognitive, muscular, and physical exercise intolerance. It is also important to mention the relevant impact of long COVID on the quality of life of these patients. Further research is needed in order to better understand long COVID and, consequently, develop more directed and effective interventions for these patients, contributing to their well-being at an individual, familial, and social level.
新冠后遗症是一种新出现的病理实体。其表现以及对健康和生活质量的影响，乃至在更大范围的经济和社会层面的影响可能非常显著，这对未来构成了一项挑战。家庭医生在这些患者的护理中发挥着重要作用，必须了解这一新情况。通过本研究，我们旨在确定在葡萄牙一个名为USF Amatus的初级医疗保健单位登记的成年人口中新冠后遗症的患病率，并确定最常见的症状、其持续时间以及对个人生活质量的影响。
这是一项基于对新冠病毒19（Trace COVID-19）国家数据库分析的回顾性研究，选取2020年3月至2022年3月期间在USF Amatus登记的、被诊断为轻症新冠的18岁及以上患者。所选患者接受电话访谈，以填写一份由葡萄牙卫生总局（DGS）根据世界卫生组织“新冠后状况报告表”改编的针对葡萄牙人群的问卷。使用统计软件（R开发核心团队；奥地利维也纳）和“ggplot2”软件包对收集到的数据进行分析。
本研究共招募了334名患者（56%为女性）。发现新冠后遗症的患病率在新冠病毒感染后的近几个月（≥3个月）为145例（43.4%），两年后为57例（17.1%）。最常报告的症状是疲劳、持续性肌肉疼痛、运动后不适、记忆力减退、腿部/手臂无力以及头晕/眩晕。约58名（17.4%）患者报告称，新冠病毒感染后他们的自我护理能力变差。在对功能状态的进一步评估中，56名（16.8%）患者报告称，现在行走至少1公里变得更加困难，29名（8.7%）患者报告称做家务变得更加困难。
本研究证明了新冠后遗症的相关性。研究结果显示，即使在感染新冠病毒两年后，有症状的患者仍有相当高的患病率。最常报告的症状是疲劳。其他常见症状包括神经认知、肌肉和身体运动不耐受。还需提及的是，新冠后遗症对这些患者的生活质量有重大影响。需要进一步研究，以便更好地了解新冠后遗症，从而为这些患者制定更有针对性和有效的干预措施，在个人、家庭和社会层面促进他们的福祉。
