Wasilewski Marina B, Leighton Jaylyn, Reis Logan, Vijayakumar Abirami, English Mahala, Sanchez Kris, Hitzig Sander L, Nelson Michelle L A, Sheppard Christine, Robinson Lawrence, Steinberg Rosalie, Nguyen Melody, Bayley Mark, Daneman Nick, Levy Charissa, Goulding Susie, Ho Chester, Simpson Robert
Sinai Health Science of Care Institute; Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
St. John's Rehab Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
PLoS One. 2025 Aug 19;20(8):e0329831. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0329831. eCollection 2025.
Long COVID impacts people's physical health and cognition which immensely affects their psychosocial well-being. A larger study was conducted that explored the psychosocial impacts of Long COVID on individuals and caregivers. This paper focuses on the impact of these stressful disruptions on one's health and psychosocial well-being, and how individuals cope with them.
Utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach, we conducted interviews with 67 participants (52 people with Long COVID (mean age: 50.4) and 15 caregivers (mean age: 50.0)). People with Long COVID and caregivers were recruited from healthcare institutions through care team referrals, patient partners, and health organizations and via social media platforms. A thematic codebook developed through inter-coder agreement processes was used to analyze the data.
Three key themes were identified: (1) Disruptions in people with Long COVID and caregivers' lives are characterized by a deviation from their perceived 'normalcy', (2) Disruptions lead to substantial stress, loss and grief (independence, agency, meaning, and purpose), and (3) People with Long COVID and caregivers cope with stressful disruptions by adapting their daily activities.
Our findings make the case for supportive rehabilitation strategies that address the psychosocial repercussions of Long COVID to help mitigate feelings of loss and grief, thereby increasing individuals' overall quality of life and well-being.
新冠长期症状会影响人们的身体健康和认知，极大地影响他们的心理社会幸福感。我们开展了一项规模更大的研究，探讨新冠长期症状对患者及其照料者的心理社会影响。本文聚焦于这些压力性干扰对个人健康和心理社会幸福感的影响，以及个人如何应对这些影响。
我们采用定性描述方法，对67名参与者进行了访谈（52名新冠长期症状患者（平均年龄：50.4岁）和15名照料者（平均年龄：50.0岁））。新冠长期症状患者和照料者通过护理团队推荐、患者伙伴、健康组织以及社交媒体平台从医疗机构招募而来。通过编码员间达成共识的过程制定的主题编码手册用于分析数据。
确定了三个关键主题：（1）新冠长期症状患者和照料者生活中的干扰表现为偏离他们所认为的“正常状态”；（2）干扰导致巨大的压力、损失和悲伤（独立性、自主性、意义和目标）；（3）新冠长期症状患者和照料者通过调整日常活动来应对压力性干扰。
我们的研究结果支持采取支持性康复策略，以应对新冠长期症状的心理社会影响，帮助减轻失落和悲伤情绪，从而提高个人的整体生活质量和幸福感。
