News: Researchers propose core symptom list for better defining long COVID

Researchers recently published a study in The Lancet based on data collected within Lifelines, an observational cohort study examining health of people living in the Netherlands. Symptom severity before and after COVID-19 was recorded in participants with COVID-19 and compared with matched controls. Of the more than 1,700 patients studied, 21.4% reported at least one core symptom. Compared with controls who reported 8.7%, this suggests that 12.7% experienced persistent somatic symptoms as a result of their infection, Medpage Today reported.

Core persistent symptoms reported at 90-150 days after COVID-19 included chest pain, difficulties with breathing, pain when breathing, painful muscles, ageusia or anosmia, tingling extremities, lump in throat, feeling hot and cold alternately, heavy arms or legs, and general tiredness. "After recovery from acute COVID-19, a substantial proportion of patients continue to experience symptoms of a physical, psychological, or cognitive nature," the researchers wrote. "These long-term sequelae of COVID-19 have been described as the next public health disaster in the making, and there is an urgent need for empirical data informing on the scale and scope of the problem to support the development of an adequate health-care response."

Based on this data, the researchers proposed the previously mentioned symptoms as a core list that might better offer a working definition of long COVID. They also said that there is still an urgent need for data on the scale and scope of the condition to improve treatment. “How patient-centered outcomes, together with biomarkers, can further refine long COVID diagnosis and inform precision medicine approaches warrants further consideration," they wrote in the study.

This research indicated that COVID-19 might affect brain functioning and mental health as well, and that woman may experience increased symptom severity after COVID-19 for a longer period of time than men. The researchers recommended that future studies look at mental health symptoms not covered in this study (e.g., depression, anxiety, brain fog, insomnia, and post-exertional malaise) and how certain demographics are associated with COVID-19 symptom dynamics and post-COVID conditions.

Editor’s note: To read Medpage Today’s coverage of this research, click here. To read the full study published in The Lancet, click here.