Course of post COVID-19 disease symptoms over time in the ComPaRe long COVID prospective e-cohort

Viet-Thi Tran (1, 2) , Raphaël Porcher (1, 2) , Isabelle Pane (1, 2) , Philippe Ravaud (1, 2, 3)

1 CRESS (U1153 / UMR_A 1125) - Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Statistics | Centre de Recherche Épidémiologie et Statistiques
2 METHODS [CRESS - U1153 / UMR_A 1125] - Methods of therapeutic evaluation of chronic diseases | Méthodes de l’évaluation thérapeutique des maladies chroniques
3 Columbia Mailman School of Public Health

About 10% of people infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 experience post COVID-19 disease. We analysed data from 968 adult patients (5350 person-months) with a confirmed infection enroled in the ComPaRe long COVID cohort, a disease prevalent prospective e-cohort of such patients in France. Day-by-day prevalence of post COVID-19 symptoms was determined from patients’ responses to the Long COVID Symptom Tool, a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing 53 symptoms. Among patients symptomatic after 2 months, 85% still reported symptoms one year after their symptom onset. Evolution of symptoms showed a decreasing prevalence over time for 27/53 symptoms (e.g., loss of taste/smell); a stable prevalence over time for 18/53 symptoms (e.g., dyspnoea), and an increasing prevalence over time for 8/53 symptoms (e.g., paraesthesia). The disease impact on patients’ lives began increasing 6 months after onset. Our results are of importance to understand the natural history of post COVID-19 disease.

Domaines: Maladies infectieuses; Santé publique et épidémiologie

Viet-Thi Tran, Raphaël Porcher, Isabelle Pane, Philippe Ravaud. Course of post COVID-19 disease symptoms over time in the ComPaRe long COVID prospective e-cohort. Nature Communications, 2022, 13 (1812), pp.1-6. ⟨10.1038/s41467-022-29513-z⟩. ⟨hal-03735427⟩