About 2 million people in the UK currently have long-term COVID-19, according to the latest figures from the National Statistics Office. In the United Kingdom, long-term COVID-19 is defined as “signs and symptoms that persist or develop after COVID-19 acid”. This definition is further divided into individuals who have symptoms between four and 12 weeks after infection (continuous symptomatic COVID-19) and for 12 weeks or more (post-COVID-19 syndrome). Symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, and more – but the exact nature of the symptoms is not well understood. There are also gaps in our knowledge regarding the frequency of long-term COVID and whether there are specific factors that put people at a higher risk of developing the condition. All of this is due in part to the fact that the symptoms used to define long-term COVID often differ between studies, and these studies tend to be based on relatively few individuals. So the results may not apply to the general population. In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, my colleagues and I looked at data from ten long-term UK-based studies, along with 1.1 million anonymous electronic health records from general English practice. Based on these data, we investigated whether the severity of long-term COVID (how common it is) varies according to demographic and health characteristics, such as age, gender, and existing medical conditions. The studies were created before the pandemic and have been following participants for many years. From these surveys, we used data from 6,907 people who reported themselves having COVID-19. Comparing this with data from the electronic health records of people diagnosed with COVID allowed us to look at the incidence of long-term COVID in those who have seen their doctor and those who have not. We found that of those who reported themselves having COVID in their studies, the rate of those who reported symptoms for more than 12 weeks ranged from 7.8 percent to 17 percent, and 1.2 percent to 4.8 percent. one hundred reported “debilitating” symptoms. In the electronic health records, we found that only 0.4 percent of people diagnosed with COVID were subsequently recorded as long-term COVID. This low rate of diagnoses by GPs may be due in part to the fact that the official record of long-term COVID was only introduced to physicians in November 2020. National Basic Study COVID-19, Author provided The proportion of people who reported symptoms for more than 12 weeks varied with age. There was also considerable variation depending on the definition used by each study to record long-term COVID. Overall, however, we found evidence to suggest that an increased risk of long-term COVID is associated with an increase in age up to the age of 70 years. The studies included participants in a range of ages, from an average age of 20 to 63. Using a strict definition of symptoms that affect daily functioning, we found that the proportion of people with symptoms for 12 weeks or more generally increased with increasing age, ranging from 1.2 percent for 20-year-olds to 4.8 percent for 63-year-olds. We have also found that a number of other factors are associated with an increased risk of developing long-term COVID. For example, being a woman, poorer pre-pandemic mental health, and general health, obesity, and asthma were also identified as risk factors in both long-term studies and electronic health records. These findings are broadly consistent with other emerging data on long COVID. For example, a recent international review study found that women are 22 percent more likely than men to develop long-term COVID-19. It will be important for us to understand why these links exist, something that is beyond the scope of our research. However, identifying individuals who may be at higher risk for long-term COVID is important, and as we continue to learn more, this could update public health prevention and treatment strategies. Ellen Thompson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Gemini Research and Genetic Epidemiology, School of Life Course & Population Sciences, King’s College London This article is republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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