Hospital admission is associated with disability and late musculoskeletal pain in individuals with long COVID.
Ricardo Bezerra Duarte Neto, Luis Felipe Fonseca Reis, Arthur de Sá Ferreira and 2 others
PMID 37965093WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalized long COVID patients reported more musculoskeletal pain and worse balance, fatigue, and walking speed than those not hospitalized.
Days in intensive care and on mechanical ventilation predicted higher pain intensity, suggesting severe acute illness drives late physical symptoms.
Key findings
01Hospitalized patients had significantly worse disability indices and higher pain intensity compared to non-hospitalized patients.
02Days in the intensive care unit and days in invasive mechanical ventilation were significant predictors of pain intensity.
03Patients with pain had worse disability scores and longer hospitalization-related metrics than those without pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study lacked a non-COVID control group, so it is impossible to know if these pain and disability levels are specific to long COVID or similar to post-intensive care syndrome from other causes. Data were collected from a single center in Brazil, which may limit generalizability to other populations or healthcare systems. The study was cross-sectional, so it shows association but cannot prove that hospitalization or ICU stay directly caused the pain. The sample was drawn from a military police population, which may not represent the broader public in terms of age, sex, or baseline health.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee at Centro Universitário Augusto Motta (UNISUAM).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that all long COVID pain is caused by the virus itself. The strong link between pain intensity and days in the ICU or on mechanical ventilation suggests that critical illness and its treatments may be driving the musculoskeletal symptoms, similar to post-intensive care syndrome.