Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39349557›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

Modeling the burden of long COVID in California with quality adjusted life-years (QALYS).

Sophie Zhu, Kalyani McCullough, Jake M Pry, Seema Jain, Lauren A White, Tomás M León

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

6 authors.

Sophie ZhuDivision of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, USA. Sophie.Zhu@cdph.ca.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8694-4058
Kalyani McCulloughDivision of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, USA.
Jake M PryDivision of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, USA.
Seema JainDivision of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, USA.
Lauren A WhiteDivision of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3852-5374
Tomás M LeónDivision of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7633-677X

Funding

NCEZID CDC HHS U01 CK000539
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 may develop post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 ("long COVID") even after asymptomatic or mild acute illness. Including time varying COVID symptom severity can provide more informative burden estimates for public health response. Using a compartmental model driven by confirmed cases, this study estimated long COVID burden by age group (0-4, 5-17, 18-49, 50-64, 65+) in California as measured by the cumulative and severity-specific proportion of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost. Long COVID symptoms were grouped into severe, moderate, and mild categories based on estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study, and symptoms were assumed to decrease in severity in the model before full recovery. All 10,945,079 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to the California Department of Public Health between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022, were included in the analysis. Most estimated long COVID-specific QALYs [59,514 (range: 10,372-180,257)] lost in California were concentrated in adults 18-49 (31,592; 53.1%). Relative to other age groups, older adults (65+) lost proportionally more QALYs from severe long COVID (1,366/6,984; 20%). Due to changing case ascertainment over time, this analysis might underestimate the actual total burden. In global sensitivity analysis, estimates of QALYs lost were most sensitive to the proportion of individuals that developed long COVID and proportion of cases with each initial level of long COVID symptom severity (mild/moderate/severe). Models like this analysis can help translate observable metrics such as cases and hospitalizations into quantitative estimates of long COVID burden that are currently difficult to directly measure. Unlike the observed relationship between age and incident severe outcomes for COVID-19, this study points to the potential cumulative impact of mild long COVID symptoms in younger individuals.

Indexed as

COVID-19Quality-Adjusted Life YearsSARS-CoV-2AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCaliforniaChildChild, PreschoolCost of IllnessFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMale

Identifiers

PMID39349557
PMCPMC11443048

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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.