Natural history of long-COVID in a nationwide, population cohort study

Claire E. Hastie; David J. Lowe; Andrew McAuley; Nicholas L. Mills; Andrew J. Winter; Corri Black; Janet T. Scott; Catherine A. O’Donnell; David N. Blane; Susan Browne; Tracy R. Ibbotson; Jill P. Pell

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-39193-y

Natural history of long-COVID in a nationwide, population cohort study

Claire E. Hastie, David J. Lowe, Andrew McAuley, Nicholas L. Mills, Andrew J. Winter, Corri Black, Janet T. Scott, Catherine A. O’Donnell, David N. Blane, Susan Browne, Tracy R. Ibbotson, Jill P. Pell^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Previous studies on the natural history of long-COVID have been few and selective. Without comparison groups, disease progression cannot be differentiated from symptoms originating from other causes. The Long-COVID in Scotland Study (Long-CISS) is a Scotland-wide, general population cohort of adults who had laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection matched to PCR-negative adults. Serial, self-completed, online questionnaires collected information on pre-existing health conditions and current health six, 12 and 18 months after index test. Of those with previous symptomatic infection, 35% reported persistent incomplete/no recovery, 12% improvement and 12% deterioration. At six and 12 months, one or more symptom was reported by 71.5% and 70.7% respectively of those previously infected, compared with 53.5% and 56.5% of those never infected. Altered taste, smell and confusion improved over time compared to the never infected group and adjusted for confounders. Conversely, late onset dry and productive cough, and hearing problems were more likely following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Original language	English
Article number	3504
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39193-y
Publication status	Published - 13 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The study was funded by the Chief Scientist Office (ref COV/LTE/20/06) and Public Health Scotland. This research used data assets made available by National Safe Haven as part of the Data and Connectivity National Core Study, led by Health Data Research UK in partnership with the Office for National Statistics and funded by UK Research and Innovation (grant ref MC_PC_20029). We are grateful to Public Health Scotland and e-DRIS for providing and linking secondary data and providing a secure analytical environment, Storm-ID for administering invitations and data collection, the Scottish Government for supporting the study launch, and the University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences PPIE (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement) and COVID-19 PPIE groups for their contributions to study design, recruitment, and interpretation of results.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets analysed during the current study are available in the National Services Scotland National Safe Haven, https://www.isdscotland.org/Products-and-Services/eDRIS/Use-of-the-National-Safe-Haven/. This protects the confidentiality of the data and ensures that Information Governance is robust. Applications to access health data in Scotland are submitted to the NHS Scotland Public Benefit and Privacy Panel for Health and Social Care. Information can be found at https://www.informationgovernance.scot.nhs.uk/pbpphsc/.

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Hastie_etal_NC_Natural_History_of_VOR
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Cite this

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abstract = "Previous studies on the natural history of long-COVID have been few and selective. Without comparison groups, disease progression cannot be differentiated from symptoms originating from other causes. The Long-COVID in Scotland Study (Long-CISS) is a Scotland-wide, general population cohort of adults who had laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection matched to PCR-negative adults. Serial, self-completed, online questionnaires collected information on pre-existing health conditions and current health six, 12 and 18 months after index test. Of those with previous symptomatic infection, 35% reported persistent incomplete/no recovery, 12% improvement and 12% deterioration. At six and 12 months, one or more symptom was reported by 71.5% and 70.7% respectively of those previously infected, compared with 53.5% and 56.5% of those never infected. Altered taste, smell and confusion improved over time compared to the never infected group and adjusted for confounders. Conversely, late onset dry and productive cough, and hearing problems were more likely following SARS-CoV-2 infection.",

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Natural history of long-COVID in a nationwide, population cohort study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

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