Mayo Nancy E, Brouillette Marie-Josée, Falcone Emilia Liana, Fellows Lesley K
Dept of Medicine, and School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), MUHC-Research Institute, 5252 de Maisonneuve, Office 2B:43, Montreal, QC, H4A 3S5, Canada.
BMC Infect Dis. 2025 Apr 2;25(1):456. doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-10757-1.
Health services planning and mechanism-focused research would benefit from a clearer picture of symptoms, impact, and personal priorities in post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). This study aimed to provide estimates of the symptom, function, and quality of life (QOL) impact of PCS.
People living in Quebec, aged ≥ 18, were eligible for the Québec Action for/pour le Post-COVID (QAPC) study if they had symptoms lasting more than 4 weeks post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, with or without a positive COVID-19 test. Recruitment was through conventional and social media between September 2022 and December, 31, 2023. Standardized and individualized questionnaires, in French or English, were accessed through an online portal. We report cross-sectional results from the baseline visit.
Individuals (n=535) spontaneously reported symptoms attributable to an average of 4.5 organ systems. Fatigue was most frequent. Effects on function and quality of life were moderate to severe and had already persisted for a year or more in the majority. Personal intervention priorities included fatigue and post-exercise malaise (PEM), cognitive symptoms, shortness of breath, and impaired taste and smell. Except for PEM, women and men did not differ importantly on measures of PCS impact, while older age was associated with lower impact.
Symptom clusters defined a range of severity, with fatigue a pervasive symptom at all levels of severity. Participants in this study are likely to be representative of those seeking health care for post-COVID-19 symptoms in Canada and the results can inform next steps for clinical, research, and health services planning.
对新冠后综合征（PCS）的症状、影响和个人优先事项有更清晰的了解，将有助于卫生服务规划和以机制为重点的研究。本研究旨在评估PCS对症状、功能和生活质量（QOL）的影响。
居住在魁北克、年龄≥18岁的人，如果在急性SARS-CoV-2感染后症状持续超过4周，无论新冠病毒检测结果是否为阳性，均有资格参与魁北克新冠后行动（QAPC）研究。2022年9月至2023年12月31日期间，通过传统媒体和社交媒体进行招募。通过在线门户网站获取法语或英语的标准化和个性化问卷。我们报告基线访视的横断面结果。
参与者（n=535）自发报告的症状平均累及4.5个器官系统。疲劳最为常见。对功能和生活质量的影响为中度至重度，且大多数情况下已持续一年或更长时间。个人干预的优先事项包括疲劳和运动后不适（PEM）、认知症状、呼吸急促以及味觉和嗅觉受损。除PEM外，女性和男性在PCS影响的测量方面没有显著差异，而年龄较大与影响较小相关。
症状群定义了一系列严重程度，疲劳是所有严重程度水平上普遍存在的症状。本研究的参与者可能代表了在加拿大因新冠后症状寻求医疗保健的人群，研究结果可为临床、研究和卫生服务规划的下一步行动提供参考。
