Background
Definitions
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4–12 weeks after the SARS-CoV-2 infection: “ongoing symptomatic COVID-19”
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> 12 weeks after the SARS-CoV-2 infection: “post-COVID-19 syndrome”
Diagnosis
Epidemiology and societal impact
Methods
Literature search and selection
Quality assessment and extraction of data
Authors, month/year, reference | Country (institute) | Evidence-base | Funding, CoI | Long COVID definition | Patient population |
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(Living) guidelines | |||||
Shah et al. 12/2020 [5] | UK (NICE, RCGP, SIGN) | Consensus-based | NR | Symptoms for > 4 weeks after the acute infection | Pts. treated at the hospital & on community level (e.g. at home) |
04/2021 [10] | UK (NHS) | Consensus-based | NR | ||
2021 [11] | USA (CDC) | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Koczulla et al. 7/2021 [7] | GER | Consensus-based | NR | Symptoms for > 4 weeks after the acute infection | Pts. treated at the hospital & on community level (e.g. at home) |
Rabady et al. 7/2021 [12] | AT | Consensus-based | Funding: NR CoI: None | Symptoms for > 4 weeks after the acute infection | Pts. treated at the hospital (except ICU) & on community level (e.g. at home) |
Reviews | |||||
03/2021 [2] | UK (NIHR) | Evidence-based | NR | NR | Pts. treated at the hospital & on community level (e.g. at home) |
Parkin et al. 03/2021 [13] | UK | NR | Funding: Leed Clinical Commissioning Group, University of Lees Medical Research Council Confidence in Concept grant CoI: None | Symptoms for > 4 weeks after the acute infection | |
Oronsky et al. 2021 [14] | USA | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Rajan et al. 03/2021 [3] | European countries, e.g. UK, GER, IT, BE | NR | Funding: NIHR, ARC EM, Leicester Biomedical Research Centre CoI: Two authors reported CoI | Symptoms for > 6 weeks after the acute infection | NR |
Expert papers | |||||
Consensus paper | |||||
Barker-Davis et al. 05/2020 [15] | UK | Consensus-based | Funding: None CoI: None | NR | Active pts. including military personnel & athletes |
Clinical perspectives | |||||
Greenhalgh et al. 2020 [16] | UK | Consensus-based | Funding: None CoI: None | Symptoms for > 4 weeks after the acute infection | Pts. treated at the hospital and on community level (e.g. at home) |
Spruit et al. 2020 [17] | NL | Consensus-based | Funding: NR CoI: Three authors reported CoI | Symptoms for 4–12 weeks after the acute infection | Pts. treated at the hospital |
Halle et al. 2021 [18] | GER | Consensus-based | Funding: NR CoI: None | NR | NR |
Leo et al. 2020 [19] | GER | Consensus-based | Funding: NR CoI: None | NR | Pts. treated at the hospital and on community level (e.g. outpatient, at home) |
Results
Included literature
Recommendations about possible long COVID healthcare pathways
First points of contact
Questionnaire/Scale | Aim | Link |
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The EQ-5D | Assessment of the generic health status of the patients. | |
The Short-Form 36 | ||
The Klok Scale | Assessment of long COVID-related individual distress and level of impairment. | |
The Newcastle Post-COVID Syndrome Follow-up Screening Questionnaire | Identification of patients who may benefit from a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment if symptoms persist for ten to 12 weeks after the acute infection. | |
The COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Screening Tool | Identification of patients who are experiencing problems related to the recent illness with COVID-19 | |
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale | Assessment of anxiety and/or depression. | |
The Patients Health Questionnaire 9 | ||
The General Anxiety Disorder 7 | ||
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 | ||
The Medical Research Council Dyspnoea Grading Scale | Measurement of breathlessness. | |
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment | Tool for cognitive screening. |
Possible further referrals
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Physical elements include, for example, pneumological/cardiological rehabilitation, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and/or muscle-strengthening programmes, especially for patients who had been treated at the ICU.
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Cognitive elements include physiotherapy and exercise for patients with motor deficits and support in restoring the cognitive function or, if not possible, in developing new ways of organizing information.
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Psychological elements include high-intensity psychological interventions from clinical psychologists, psychiatry, and/or psychological therapies.
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Lifestyle components, such as advice on nutrition, sleep and stress reduction.