12-Month trajectories of physical and mental symptom scores after COVID-19 hospitalization and their role in predicting "very long" COVID.
Oleksii Honchar, Tetiana Ashcheulova, Alla Bobeiko and 4 others
PMID 40469928WHAT IT FOUND
A survey given three months after hospitalization predicted long-term recovery with 91% accuracy.
Physical symptom burden and cognitive complaints were the strongest markers, while age and mental health scores added little to the prediction.
Key findings
01A machine learning model using data from three months post-discharge predicted long-term symptom persistence with 91% accuracy in the study cohort.
02Scores on physical symptom and cognitive function surveys were the most significant predictors of long-term recovery, outperforming anxiety and depression measures.
03Age did not predict whether patients would have long-term symptoms, although younger patients generally reported faster recovery of physical function.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was conducted at a single center in Ukraine, so the results may not apply to other healthcare settings or populations. The participants were hospitalized for pneumonia or COVID-19 but excluded those with severe underlying pathologies, which may not reflect the full range of patients seen in practice. The study was conducted in 2021, before widespread vaccination and the emergence of newer variants, so the applicability to current clinical scenarios is uncertain. Long-term status was defined by self-reported recovery rather than objective clinical measures, which introduces subjectivity.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use age or mental health scores alone to predict long COVID. The study found that physical and cognitive symptom burdens at three months were the primary predictors, while age and anxiety/depression scores were not significant for determining who would have persistent symptoms at one year.