Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36274177›Full record

ArticleBioPsychoSocial medicine2022

Global prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome among long COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Nader Salari, Yassaman Khodayari, Amin Hosseinian-Far, Hosna Zarei, Shabnam Rasoulpoor, Hakimeh Akbari, Masoud Mohammadi

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in BioPsychoSocial medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06940609 (Magnetic Resonance Analysis of Neural Inflammatory Factors and External Stimulation), which is not on this map. Cited by 51 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 4 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.

NCT06940609 phase2recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Magnetic Resonance Analysis of Neural Inflammatory Factors and External Stimulation (MANIFEST)

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of New MexicoRan2025 to 2029Enrolled60ConditionsLong COVID, Long COVID Syndrome, Long COVID-19 Syndrome, PASCArmsaccelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

51 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  3. Definitions and symptoms of the post-COVID syndrome: an updated systematic umbrella review.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025
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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.

Nader SalariDepartment of Biostatistics, School of Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Yassaman KhodayariStudent Research Committee, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Amin Hosseinian-FarDepartment of Business Systems & Operations, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK.
Hosna ZareiStudent Research Committee, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Shabnam RasoulpoorDepartment of Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
Hakimeh AkbariCellular and Molecular Research Center, Gerash University of Medical Sciences, Gerash, Iran.
Masoud MohammadiCellular and Molecular Research Center, Gerash University of Medical Sciences, Gerash, Iran. Masoud.mohammadi1989@yahoo.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5722-8300

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic fatigue syndrome is a persistent and debilitating disorder. According to several studies, chronic fatigue syndrome has been identified among recovered COVID-19 patients as the most common symptom of long COVID. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis study was to obtain the prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome in long COVID cases.

methodsIn this systematic review and meta-analysis, we analysed reported results of studies that assessed the occurrence of chronic fatigue syndrome among COVID-19 patients four weeks after the onset of symptoms. The study selection was commenced by searching PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, Embase, and Google scholar using the keywords of Chronic fatigue syndrome, COVID-19, and post-COVID-19 syndrome. The searches were without a lower time limit and until April 2022. Heterogeneity of studies was assessed using the I

resultsThe pooled prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome four weeks after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, in 52 studies with a sample size of 127,117, was 45.2% (95% CI: 34.1-56.9%). Meta-regression analysis in examining the effects of the two factors of sample size, and year of study on the changes in the overall prevalence, showed that with increasing sample size, and year of study, the prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome among long COVID patients (p < 0.05).

conclusionOur results show that the overall prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome as a long COVID symptom is 45.2%. Chronic fatigue after infection with COVID-19 can negatively affect personal and social lives. Given such significant negative consequences caused by the syndrome, it is recommended that health policymakers allocate funds to reduce the adverse effects of this syndrome, by creating programs to support long COVID patients.

Indexed as

Chronic fatigue syndromeCoronavirusCOVID-19FatigueMeta-analysisPrevalenceSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID36274177
PMCPMC9589726

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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.