SynthesisPloS one2024
What is the impact of long-term COVID-19 on workers in healthcare settings? A rapid systematic review of current evidence.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex and occupational differences in long COVID prevalence among healthcare workers: a multicentre registry-based study in three Spanish hospitals.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Prolonged return to work and hampered work ability: insights from a scoping review on the impact of long COVID on healthcare workers job performance.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Barriers to Long COVID Care in the U.S.: An Application of Levesque et al.'s Access Framework.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026Article
- "That's not my silo": Navigating fragmented long COVID care in the mid-Atlantic United States.SSM. Qualitative research in health · 2026Article
- Experiences of People With Long COVID Accessing Rehabilitation Services: A Qualitative Study.Occupational therapy international · 2026Article
- Long-term symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection in a cohort of healthcare workers in Qatar.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Compassion fatigue, work engagement, and psychological distress in health care workers treating patients with long COVID.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Long COVID in Healthcare Workers from a Pediatric Hospital in Romania: A Cross-Sectional Study of Prevalence, Symptom Burden, and the Role of Vaccination and Reinfection.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Long COVID in healthcare workers: longitudinal mixed-methods study.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Determinants of work ability among health and social services workers with work-related COVID-19 infection in Germany.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- The impact of long COVID on UK healthcare workers and their workplace: a qualitative study of healthcare workers with long COVID, their families, colleagues and managers.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Post COVID-19 infection and quality of life of healthcare workers at Sahloul University Hospital of Sousse in Tunisia.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Article
- Long COVID and its associations with burnout, anxiety, and depression among U. S. healthcare workers in the United States.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Infection-associated chronic conditions: Why Long Covid is our best chance to untangle Osler's web.Science translational medicine · 2024Article
- Postacute Sequelae of COVID (PASC or Long COVID): An Evidenced-Based Approach.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Review
- Simulated medication administration for vulnerable populations using scanning technology: a quasi-experimental pilot study.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Impact of pre-existing conditions on the severity of post-COVID syndrome among workers in healthcare and social services in Germany.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2024Article
- Epidemiological characteristics of first-time SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection among hospital staff in Chengdu, China.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2024Article
- Changes in Working Situations of Employed Long COVID Patients: Retrospective Study in Japanese Outpatient Clinic.Journal of clinical medicine · 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
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLong COVID is a devastating, long-term, debilitating illness which disproportionately affects healthcare workers, due to the nature of their work. There is currently limited evidence specific to healthcare workers about the experience of living with Long COVID, or its prevalence, pattern of recovery or impact on healthcare.
objectiveOur objective was to assess the effects of Long COVID among healthcare workers and its impact on health status, working lives, personal circumstances, and use of health service resources.
methodsWe conducted a systematic rapid review according to current methodological standards and reported it in adherence to the PRISMA 2020 and ENTREQ statements.
resultsWe searched relevant electronic databases and identified 3770 articles of which two studies providing qualitative evidence and 28 survey studies providing quantitative evidence were eligible. Thematic analysis of the two qualitative studies identified five themes: uncertainty about symptoms, difficulty accessing services, importance of being listened to and supported, patient versus professional identity and suggestions to improve communication and services for people with Long COVID. Common long-term symptoms in the survey studies included fatigue, headache, loss of taste and/or smell, breathlessness, dyspnoea, difficulty concentrating, depression and anxiety.
conclusionHealthcare workers struggled with their dual identity (patient/doctor) and felt dismissed or not taken seriously by their doctors. Our findings are in line with those in the literature showing that there are barriers to healthcare professionals accessing healthcare and highlighting the challenges of receiving care due to their professional role. A more representative approach in Long COVID research is needed to reflect the diverse nature of healthcare staff and their occupations. This rapid review was conducted using robust methods with the codicil that the pace of research into Long COVID may mean relevant evidence was not identified.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.