Prevalence of long COVID in a national cohort: longitudinal measures from disease onset until 8 months' follow-up

Maria Skaalum Petersen; Marnar Fríðheim Kristiansen; Katrin Dahl Hanusson; Billa Mouritsardóttir Foldbo; Marjun Eivindardóttir Danielsen; Bjarni Á Steig; Shahin Gaini; Marin Strøm; Pál Weihe

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2022.06.031

Prevalence of long COVID in a national cohort: longitudinal measures from disease onset until 8 months' follow-up

Int J Infect Dis. 2022 Sep:122:437-441. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.06.031. Epub 2022 Jun 23.

Authors

Maria Skaalum Petersen¹, Marnar Fríðheim Kristiansen², Katrin Dahl Hanusson³, Billa Mouritsardóttir Foldbo³, Marjun Eivindardóttir Danielsen³, Bjarni Á Steig⁴, Shahin Gaini⁵, Marin Strøm⁶, Pál Weihe⁷

Affiliations

¹ Center of Health Sciences, University of the Faroe Islands, Vestara Bryggja 15, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, The Faroese Hospital System, Sigmundargøta 5, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. Electronic address: maria@health.fo.
² Center of Health Sciences, University of the Faroe Islands, Vestara Bryggja 15, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; Medical Department, National Hospital of the Faroe Islands, J.C. Svabosgøta 41-49, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
³ Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, The Faroese Hospital System, Sigmundargøta 5, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
⁴ Medical Department, National Hospital of the Faroe Islands, J.C. Svabosgøta 41-49, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
⁵ Center of Health Sciences, University of the Faroe Islands, Vestara Bryggja 15, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; Medical Department, National Hospital of the Faroe Islands, J.C. Svabosgøta 41-49, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; Department of Infectious Diseases, Odense University Hospital, J.B. Winsløwsvej 4, Odense, Denmark; Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Winsløwparken 19, Odense, Denmark.
⁶ Center of Health Sciences, University of the Faroe Islands, Vestara Bryggja 15, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, Copenhagen S, Denmark.
⁷ Center of Health Sciences, University of the Faroe Islands, Vestara Bryggja 15, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, The Faroese Hospital System, Sigmundargøta 5, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.

Abstract

Objectives: Persistence of COVID-19 symptoms in nonhospitalized individuals beyond a few months has not been well characterized. In this longitudinal study from the Faroe Islands, we present prevalence of long COVID in mainly nonhospitalized patients who were followed up for up to 8 months.

Methods: All Faroese individuals with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from August to December 2020 were invited to participate in this study (n = 297). Demographic and clinical characteristics and self-reported symptoms were ascertained prospectively using a detailed questionnaire administered at repeated phone interviews.

Results: A total of 226 individuals participated at baseline (226/297, 76% participation rate), of whom 170 participants had more than 3 months follow-up. Of these, 39% (n = 67/170, 95% confidence interval [CI] 32-37%) reported persistent symptoms (median [range] 168 [93-231] days) after the acute phase and 8% (n = 14/170, 95% CI 5-13%) reported severe persistent symptoms. The most prevalent symptoms were fatigue (17%) and smell (17%) and taste (14%) dysfunction. Long COVID was more common in people reporting daily medication use (odds ratio 2.34, 95% CI 1.02-5.37).

Conclusion: Our results show that symptoms may take months to resolve, even among nonhospitalized individuals, with a mild illness in the acute phase. Continued monitoring for long COVID is needed to evaluate the added risk of a potential public health concern.

Keywords: COVID-19; Faroe Islands; Long COVID; Longitudinal study; Persisting symptoms.

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Testing
COVID-19* / complications
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
Prevalence
SARS-CoV-2