Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35143771›Full record

ArticleThe Lancet. Child & adolescent health2022

Long COVID symptoms in SARS-CoV-2-positive adolescents and matched controls (LongCOVIDKidsDK): a national, cross-sectional study.

Selina Kikkenborg Berg, Susanne Dam Nielsen, Ulrikka Nygaard, Henning Bundgaard, Pernille Palm, Camilla Rotvig, Anne Vinggaard Christensen

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The Lancet. Child & adolescent health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04786353 (Long COVID Kids DK - Investigating Long-term Hospitalizations, GP Visits, Co-morbidities, Drug Prescriptions and Symptoms in Danish Children With Covid-19), which is not on this map. Cited by 94 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
94citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04786353 unknown statusnot on this map

Long COVID Kids DK - Investigating Long-term Hospitalizations, GP Visits, Co-morbidities, Drug Prescriptions and Symptoms in Danish Children With Covid-19

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorRigshospitalet, DenmarkRan2021 to 2024Enrolled330,000ConditionsCovid-19ArmsLongCOVIDkidsDK
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

94 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Short and Long-Term Wellbeing of Children following SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Pooled it
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Review
  13. Long COVID-19 in Hospitalized and Ambulatory Children in Jamaica.The Pediatric infectious disease journal · 2026
    Observational
  14. Observational
  15. Observational
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

34 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Selina Kikkenborg BergDepartment of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: selina@rh.dk.
Susanne Dam NielsenDepartment of Infectious Disease, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ulrikka NygaardDepartment of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Henning BundgaardDepartment of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Pernille PalmDepartment of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Camilla RotvigDepartment of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Anne Vinggaard ChristensenDepartment of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany adolescents have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic either directly by being infected with the virus or indirectly by lockdowns and restrictions influencing normal living. We aimed to investigate health, including symptoms of long COVID, in adolescents (aged 15-18 years) who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared with a control group.

methodsLongCOVIDKidsDK was a national, cross-sectional study carried out in Denmark, which included SARS-CoV-2-positive adolescents and matched controls. All Danish adolescents aged 15-18 years with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test during the period Jan 1, 2020, to July 12, 2021, and a control group matched (1:4) by age and sex were sent a survey from July 20, 2021. Participants had until Sept 15, 2021, to respond. Symptoms associated with COVID-19, school attendance, and health-related quality of life were investigated using ancillary questions and validated questionnaires (Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory [PedsQL] and Children's Somatic Symptoms Inventory-24 [CSSI-24]). Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and logistic regression. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04786353.

findings24 315 adolescents with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test (case group) and 97 257 matched controls were invited to participate. 3013 matched controls were excluded because of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection. 6630 (27·3%) responded in the case group and 21 640 (22·3%) responded and were eligible to participate in the control group. Across both groups, median age was 17·6 years (IQR 16·4-18·5), 16 277 (57·6%) of 28 270 responders were female, and 11 993 (42·4%) were male. Participants in the case group had greater odds of having at least one long COVID symptom lasting at least 2 months compared with the control group (3159 [61·9%] vs 12 340 [57·0%], odds ratio 1·22 [95% CI 1·15-1·30]; p<0·0001). Participants in the case group reported significantly lower symptom scores (ie, less somatic distress) on the CSSI-24 than in the control group: mean 10·7 (SD 11·4, median 7·0 [IQR 2·0-15·0]) versus 11·9 (10·6, 9·0 [4·0-17·0]; p<0·0001). Participants in the case group had better quality of life scores on the PedsQL than in the control group: physical functioning mean score 88·7 (SD 13·9, median 93·8 [IQR 84·4-100·0]) versus 86·5 (14·3, 90·6 [81·3-96·9]; p<0·0001); emotional functioning 77·1 (20·3, 80·0 [65·0-95·0]) versus 71·7 (21·4, 75·0 [60·0-90·0]; p<0·0001); social functioning 93·1 (12·5, 100·0 [90·0-100·0]) versus 88·4 (16·2, 95·0 [80·0-100·0]; p<0·0001); and school functioning 66·9 (22·5, 65·0 [60·0-85·0]) versus 62·9 (22·1, 65·0 [50·0-80·0]; p<0·0001). More participants in the case group than in the control group reported 16 or more sick days (1205 [18·2%] vs 2518 [11·6%]; p<0·0001) and 16 or more days of school absence (695 [10·5%] vs 1777 [8·2%]; p<0·0001).

interpretationParticipants with SARS-CoV-2-positive tests had more long-lasting symptoms and sick leave, whereas participants in the control group had more short-lasting symptoms and worse quality of life. Knowledge of long COVID in adolescents is important to guide clinical recognition and management of this condition.

fundingAP Møller and Chastine McKinney Møller Foundation.

Indexed as

AdolescentCase-Control StudiesCOVID-19COVID-19 TestingCross-Sectional StudiesDenmarkFemaleHumansMalePost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeQuality of LifeSARS-CoV-2SchoolsSick LeaveSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID35143771
PMCPMC8820960

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.