Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) impact quality of life at 6, 12 and 18 months post-infection, 2022, Antar et al

Abstract

Little data exist on long COVID outcomes beyond one year. In a cohort enrolled with mild-moderate acute COVID-19, a wide range of symptoms manifest at 6, 12, and 18 months. Endorsing over 3 symptoms associates with poorer quality of life in 5 domains: physical, social, fatigue, pain, and general health.

Preprint

 

Highlights:

"At 12 months post-COVID, 67% (40 of 60) had returned to their usual pre-COVID health and 80% (48 of 60) had returned to their usual pre-COVID activities. At 18 months, 77% (27 of 35) had returned to their usual health and 83% (29 of 35) to their usual activities."

"Participants reported that symptoms directly interfered with their daily activities: 35% (11 of 31), 22% (13 of 58), and 13% (4 of 31) at 6, 12, and 18 months post-COVID-19."

"Cognitive impairment was also highly reported, with 22% (8 of 37), 24% (14 of 59), and 17% (6 of 36) reporting brain fog or concentration difficulties at 6, 12, and 18 months post infection."

Limitations: It seems that they only managed to get less than half of their original participants (60 of 144) to fill in their surveys, so there is potential for significant bias if people with PASC symptoms were more likely to fill out the survey. Only a handful of the participants were vaccinated before being infected.

Even if there is significant bias in the responses, these look like pretty large proportions of the cohort reporting health problems at 12-18 months.