Integrating patient-reported physical, mental, and social impacts to classify long COVID experiences.
Publication Title
Sci Rep
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-28-2023
Keywords
oregon; core; covid-19; Humans; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Mental Health; Social Change; Prospective Studies; COVID-19; Patient Reported Outcome Measures
Abstract
Long COVID was originally identified through patient-reported experiences of prolonged symptoms. Many studies have begun to describe long COVID; however, this work typically focuses on medical records, instead of patient experiences, and lacks a comprehensive view of physical, mental, and social impacts. As part of our larger My COVID Diary (MCD) study, we captured patient experiences using a prospective and longitudinal patient-reported outcomes survey (PROMIS-10) and free-text narrative submissions. From this study population, we selected individuals who were still engaged in the MCD study and reporting poor health (PROMIS-10 scores < 3) at 6 months (n = 634). We used their PROMIS-10 and narrative data to describe and classify their long COVID experiences. Using Latent Class Analysis of the PROMIS-10 data, we identified four classifications of long COVID experiences: a few lingering issues (n = 107), significant physical symptoms (n = 113), ongoing mental and cognitive struggles (n = 235), and numerous compounding challenges (n = 179); each classification included a mix of physical, mental, and social health struggles with varying levels of impairment. The classifications were reinforced and further explained by patient narratives. These results provide a new understanding of the varying ways that long COVID presents to help identify and care for patients.
Clinical Institute
Mental Health
Specialty/Research Institute
Behavioral Health
Specialty/Research Institute
Infectious Diseases
Specialty/Research Institute
Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE)
DOI
10.1038/s41598-023-43615-8
