Among long-COVID patients in Israel, nonspecific emotional and cognitive symptoms such as fatigue, lack of concentration, and sleep disorders lowered subjective well-being (SWB) the most, according to a study published today in Epidemiology & Infection.
As part of an ongoing study, a team led by Bar Ilan University researchers analyzed the results of an online symptom survey sent to 2,295 participants, 576 of whom had tested positive for COVID 3 to 6, 6 to 12, and 12 to 18 months earlier, from July 2021 to April 2022. A total of 92% of participants were vaccinated, and the uninfected patients (75%) were used as controls. Among the previously infected, 68% reported at least one ongoing COVID-19 symptom.
Symptom effects evolved over time
Overall, the SWB scores of previously infected patients reporting no lingering symptoms were comparable to those of the never-infected (74.3 vs 73.7 on a 100-point scale). Symptomatic participants were more likely to be female than male, and vaccinees reported fewer symptoms.
The most common symptoms were fatigue (42%), muscle weakness (26%), muscle pain (23%), confusion/lack of concentration (22%), and sleep disorders (21%).
Nonspecific symptoms had the most negative impact on SWB, with declines of 7.7 percentage points for fatigue, 10.7 percentage points for confusion or lack of concentration, and 11.5 percentage points for sleep disorders. Specific symptoms (eg, muscle pain and weakness) had less pronounced and more transient effects.
Individual symptoms affected SWB differently over time. For example, patients reporting fatigue at 3 to 6 months showed a nonsignificant 8.1 percentage-point decrease in SWB, but those reporting it at 12 to 18 months showed a significant drop of 12.6 percentage points. Such differences, the authors said, could reflect changes in disease severity or adaptation to physical symptoms over time.
"Taking a similar approach for other symptoms and following individuals over time to describe trends in SWB changes attributable to specific symptoms will help understand the post-acute phase of COVID-19 and how it should be defined and better managed," they wrote.
The most common symptoms were fatigue (42%), muscle weakness (26%), muscle pain (23%), confusion/lack of concentration (22%), and sleep disorders (21%).