Persistent symptoms in female long COVID patients: 30-months of follow-up

<bold>Background</bold> Long COVID patients still report symptoms up to 1 year after infection. To date, little is known on symptom persistence >1 year of follow-up. <bold>Aim</bold> To study symptom persistence in long COVID patients 30 months after COVID-19. <bold>Methods</bold> Demographics and presence of symptoms (yes/no) were assessed at baseline, and 3, 6 and 30 months after the infection in long COVID patients. <bold>Results</bold> Data of 30 female long COVID patients (age: 51±11 yrs) were analyzed. At baseline, a median (IQR) of 16 (14-19) symptoms was reported, which was lower at 3, 6 and 30 months: 9 (7-11), 7 (6-11) and 6 (3-10), respectively (all p<0.05). At 30 months, none of the patients was symptom free, and fatigue (87%), muscle pain (60%) and dyspnea (53%) were reported most often. The largest reduction in symptoms was found in the first 3 months after infection and remained stable or decreased further up to 30 months post-infection. However, prevalence of fatigue was unchanged, and muscle pain, joint pain and eye problems were reported more often at 30 months compared to 3 months after infection (p<0.05; Fig. 1). <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA4103/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig> <bold>Conclusion</bold> Although a reduction was found in symptom prevalence, all female long COVID patients in this cohort still experienced ≥1 symptoms 30 months after infection. The high prevalence of fatigue remained unchanged and physical symptoms even appeared to increase. BP is supported by grant 4.1.16.085 of Lung Foundation NL, and Stichting Astma Bestrijding.