SynthesisJournal of global health2022
Symptoms and signs of long COVID: A rapid review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of global health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review to find link between past psychiatric history and development of long covid.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Global prevalence of post-COVID-19 condition: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective evidence.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2025Pooled it
- Gender Disparities in Neurological Symptoms of Long COVID: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuroepidemiology · 2025Pooled it
- Symptoms, risk factors, and health outcomes of long COVID in the United Arab Emirates.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A narrative review of SARS-CoV-2 variants and long COVID.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- Bridging Gaps in Long COVID Therapy: A Review.Current medicinal chemistry · 2026Review
- A Retrospective Observational Study on COVID-19 Patients Receiving Treatment with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (PAXLOVID).Pulmonary therapy · 2025Article
- Association of glycemic control with Long COVID in patients with type 2 diabetes: findings from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C).BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2025Article
- Sleep and long COVID: preexisting sleep issues and the risk of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a large general population using 3 different model definitions.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2025Article
- Prevalence of post COVID-19 condition and associations with risk factors among U.S. adults: 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Identifying central symptom clusters and correlates among post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis patients: a network analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Post-infection symptoms up to 24 months after COVID-19: a matched cohort study in Berlin, Germany.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Lung long distance: histopathological changes in lung tissue after COVID-19 pneumonia.Croatian medical journal · 2024Article
- Comparison of different T cell assays for the retrospective determination of SARS-CoV-2 infection.The Journal of general virology · 2024Article
- Occupational therapy practice for post-acute COVID-19 inpatients requiring rehabilitation.Australian occupational therapy journal · 2024Article
- Long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for patients with cancer.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Prevalence and factors influencing long COVID among primary healthcare workers after epidemic control policy adjustment in Jiangsu, China.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Long-Term Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Wild-Type and Omicron XBB.1.5 in Indonesian Residents after Vaccination and Infection.Antibodies (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Illness presentation and quality of life in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and post COVID-19 condition: a pilot Australian cross-sectional study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Long COVID is defined as symptoms and signs related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that are present at least four weeks following acute infection. These symptoms and signs are poorly characterised but may be associated with significant morbidity. We sought to synthesise the evidence on their incidence to guide future research, policy and practice. Methods: We searched Medline and Embase for longitudinal cohort studies from January 2020 to July 2021 that investigated adults with long COVID at least four weeks after acute infection. Risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for cohort studies. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed with subgroup analysis by follow-up time (4-12 vs more than 12 weeks). Results: 19 studies were included, 13 of which included patients hospitalised with COVID-19. The total sample size was 10 643 and the follow-up time ranged from 30 to 340 days. Risk of bias was assessed as high in one study, moderate in two studies and low in the remaining 16 studies. The most common symptoms and signs seen at any time point in long COVID were fatigue (37%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 23-55), dyspnoea (21%; 95% CI = 14-30), olfactory dysfunction (17%; 95% CI = 9-29), myalgia (12%; 95% CI = 5-25), cough (11%; 95% CI = 6-20) and gustatory dysfunction (10%; 95% CI = 7-17). High heterogeneity was seen for all meta-analyses and the presence of some funnel plot asymmetry may indicate reporting bias. No effect of follow-up time was found for any symptom or sign included in the subgroup analysis. Conclusions: We have summarised evidence from longitudinal cohort studies on the most common symptoms and signs associated with long COVID. High heterogeneity seen in the meta-analysis means pooled incidence estimates should be interpreted with caution. This heterogeneity may be attributable to studies including patients from different health care settings and countries.
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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.