Abstract:
Long COVID presents with diverse symptoms after COVID-19. Different clusters of symptoms have been reported; however, their persistence beyond 2 years after COVID-19 remains unclear. In this cohort study, we prospectively evaluated individuals with previous severe COVID-19 presenting with long COVID at a two-year follow-up. We characterized the included patients and performed a cluster analysis of symptoms through multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical clustering. A total of 199 patients with long COVID were included. The median age was 58 years (48-69), 56% were male, and the median follow-up time since the COVID-19 diagnosis was 26 months (IQR: 25, 27). Three symptom clusters were identified: Cluster 1 is characterized by fatigue, myalgia/arthralgia, a low prevalence of symptoms, and a lack of specific symptoms; Cluster 2 is defined by a high prevalence of fatigue, myalgia/arthralgia, and cardiorespiratory symptoms, including palpitations, shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain; and Cluster 3 is demonstrated a high prevalence of ageusia, anosmia, fatigue, and cardiorespiratory symptoms. Our study reinforces the concept of symptom clustering in long COVID, providing evidence that these clusters may persist beyond two years after a COVID-19 diagnosis. This highlights the chronic and debilitating nature of long COVID and the importance of developing strategies to mitigate symptoms in these patients.
摘要:
长型COVID在COVID-19后表现出不同的症状。已经报告了不同的症状;然而,他们在COVID-19后超过2年的持续时间仍不清楚。在这项队列研究中,我们前瞻性评估了既往患有严重COVID-19并出现长COVID的个体,随访2年.我们对纳入的患者进行了表征,并通过多重对应分析和层次聚类对症状进行了聚类分析。共纳入199例长型COVID患者。中位年龄为58岁(48-69岁),56%为男性,自COVID-19诊断以来的中位随访时间为26个月(IQR:25,27)。确定了三个症状簇:簇1的特征是疲劳,肌痛/关节痛,症状患病率低,缺乏特定的症状;第2组是由高患病率的疲劳定义的,肌痛/关节痛,和心肺症状,包括心悸,呼吸急促,咳嗽,和胸痛;第3组被证明是一种高患病率的疾病,嗅觉缺失,疲劳,和心肺症状。我们的研究加强了长期COVID症状聚类的概念,提供证据表明,这些集群可能在COVID-19诊断后持续超过两年。这凸显了长期COVID的慢性和衰弱性质,以及制定减轻这些患者症状的策略的重要性。