SynthesisEuropean respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society2022
Prevalence, risk factors and treatments for post-COVID-19 breathlessness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of 6-minute walk test and pulmonary function testing in patients with post COVID-19 condition: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Family practice · 2026Pooled it
- The risk of Long Covid symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled studies.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Rehabilitation Interventions for Physical Capacity and Quality of Life in Adults With Post-COVID-19 Condition: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Echocardiogram Testing in Patients with Post-COVID-19 Condition: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Long term cardiometabolic outcomes in COVID positive patients.Journal of public health research · 2026Review
- Association of pre-pandemic respiratory system diseases with long COVID: a population-based case-control study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- A narrative review of SARS-CoV-2 variants and long COVID.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- Long-term health effects of COVID-19 among patients in Croatian primary care settings.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Functional consequences of post-COVID-19 syndrome: Evidence from Qatar, 2022.Qatar medical journal · 2026Article
- Article
- Assessment and management of post-COVID-19 pulmonary complications: a rapid review.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- Clinical Practice Guideline Recommendations for Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19.Infection & chemotherapy · 2025Review
- Neuroleptics used in critical COVID associated with moderate-severe dyspnea after hospital discharge.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Consensus based recommendations for the management of post-COVID long-term sequelae (Long COVID): a regional perspective.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Self-Reported Dyspnea Is Associated with Reduced Health-Related Quality of Life in Quaternary Hospital Workers 1 Year Post Mild COVID-19 Infection.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Post-COVID breathlessness: a mathematical model of respiratory processing in the brain.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2024Article
- Post‑recovery symptoms of infected cases after Omicron pandemic: a quick online cross-sectional study based on C19-YRSm in China.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Correlating COVID-19 severity with biomarker profiles and patient prognosis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Persistent disabilities 28 months after COVID-19 hospitalisation, a prospective cohort study.ERJ open research · 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
16 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Persistent breathlessness >28 days after acute COVID-19 infection has been identified as a highly debilitating post-COVID symptom. However, the prevalence, risk factors, mechanisms and treatments for post-COVID breathlessness remain poorly understood. We systematically searched PubMed and Embase for relevant studies published from 1 January 2020 to 1 November 2021 (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021285733) and included 119 eligible papers. Random-effects meta-analysis of 42 872 patients with COVID-19 reported in 102 papers found an overall prevalence of post-COVID breathlessness of 26% (95% CI 23-29) when measuring the presence/absence of the symptom, and 41% (95% CI 34-48) when using Medical Research Council (MRC)/modified MRC dyspnoea scale. The pooled prevalence decreased significantly from 1-6 months to 7-12 months post-infection. Post-COVID breathlessness was more common in those with severe/critical acute infection, those who were hospitalised and females, and was less likely to be reported by patients in Asia than those in Europe or North America. Multiple pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed (including deconditioning, restrictive/obstructive airflow limitation, systemic inflammation, impaired mental health), but the body of evidence remains inconclusive. Seven cohort studies and one randomised controlled trial suggested rehabilitation exercises may reduce post-COVID breathlessness. There is an urgent need for mechanistic research and development of interventions for the prevention and treatment of post-COVID breathlessness.
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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.