Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40859262›Full record

ArticleBMC infectious diseases2025

Subdomains of Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS) - a population-based study.

Sabrina Ballhausen-Lübcker, Anne-Kathrin Ruß, Wolfgang Lieb, Anna Schäfer, Lilian Krist, Julia Fricke, Carmen Scheibenbogen, Klaus F Rabe, Walter Maetzler, Corina Maetzler and 21 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Lung Function Impairment after Mild SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Previously Healthy Individuals.Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
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

31 authors.

Sabrina Ballhausen-Lübcker *Internal Medicine Department I, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Anne-Kathrin Ruß *Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein Campus Kiel, Brunswiker Straße 10, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Wolfgang LiebInstitute of Epidemiology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Niemannsweg 11, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Anna SchäferInstitute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
Lilian KristInstitute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Luisenstraße 57, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
Julia FrickeInstitute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Luisenstraße 57, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
Carmen ScheibenbogenInstitute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, Berlin, 13353, Germany.
Klaus F RabePneumology, LungenClinic Grosshansdorf, Wöhrendamm 80, Großhansdorf, 22927, Germany.
Walter MaetzlerNeurology Department, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Corina MaetzlerNeurology Department, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Martin LaudienENT Department, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Derk FrankInternal Medicine Department III, University Hospital Schleswig, Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Jan HeyckendorfInternal Medicine Department I, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Olga MiljukovInstitute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
Karl Georg HaeuslerDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 45, Ulm, 89081, Germany.
Nour Eddine El MokhtariCardiology, Schön Klinik Rendsburg, Lilienstraße 20-48, Rendsburg, 24768, Germany.
Martin WitzenrathGerman Center for Lung Research (DZL) and Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
Jörg Janne VehreschildFaculty of Medicine, Institute for Digital Medicine and Clinical Data Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Katharina S AppelFaculty of Medicine, Institute for Digital Medicine and Clinical Data Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Irina Chaplinskaya-SobolInstitute for Medical Informatics, University Medical Center Göttingen, Von-Siebold-Straße 3, Göttingen, 37075, Germany.
Thalea TammingaInternal Medicine Department I, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Carolin NürnbergerInstitute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
Lena SchmidbauerInstitute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
Caroline MorbachDepartment of Clinical Research and Epidemiology, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Hospital Würzburg, Am Schwarzenberg 15, Würzburg, 97078, Germany.
Stefan StörkDepartment of Clinical Research and Epidemiology, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Hospital Würzburg, Am Schwarzenberg 15, Würzburg, 97078, Germany.
Jens-Peter ReeseInstitute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
Thomas KeilInstitute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
Peter HeuschmannInstitute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg, 97080, Germany.
Stefan SchreiberInternal Medicine Department I, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Michael KrawczakInstitute of Epidemiology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Niemannsweg 11, Kiel, 24105, Germany.
Thomas BahmerInternal Medicine Department I, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Kiel, 24105, Germany. thomas.bahmer@uksh.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purpose'Post-COVID Syndrome' (PCS), which encompasses the multifaceted sequelae of COVID-19, can be severity-graded by a previously defined score encompassing 12 different long-term symptom complexes. The PCS score was shown to have two main predictors, namely acute COVID-19 severity and individual resilience. The purpose of the present study was to verify these predictors and to assess their detailed relationship to the symptom complexes constituting the PCS score.

methodsThe study drew upon a largely expanded dataset (n = 3,372) from COVIDOM, the cohort study underlying the original PCS score definition. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis served to resolve the detailed relationship between the predictors and the constituting symptom complexes of the PCS score.

resultsAmong newly recruited COVIDOM participants (n = 1,930), the PCS score was again found to be associated with both its putative predictors. Of the score-constituting symptom complexes, neurological symptoms, sleep disturbance, and fatigue were predicted by individual resilience whereas the acute disease severity predicted exercise intolerance, chemosensory deficits, joint or muscle pain, signs of infection, and fatigue. These associations inspired the definition of two novel PCS scores that included the above-mentioned subsets of symptom complexes only. Similar to the original PCS score, both novel scores were found to be inversely correlated with quality of life as measured by the EQ-5D-5L index.

conclusionThe two newly defined PCS scores may enable a more refined assessment of PCS severity, both in a research context and to delineate distinct PCS subdomains with possibly different therapeutic and interventional needs in clinical practise.

Indexed as

COVID-19AdultAgedCohort StudiesFatigueFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeResilience, PsychologicalSARS-CoV-2Severity of Illness IndexCohort studyCoronavirusCOVID-19Disease severityLong-COVIDPhenotype classificationPost-COVID syndromeResilience

Identifiers

PMID40859262
PMCPMC12382122

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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.