Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37662515›Full record

ArticleEClinicalMedicine2023

Long-term symptom severity and clinical biomarkers in post-COVID-19/chronic fatigue syndrome: results from a prospective observational cohort.

Franziska Legler, Lil Meyer-Arndt, Lukas Mödl, Claudia Kedor, Helma Freitag, Elisa Stein, Uta Hoppmann, Rebekka Rust, Kirsten Wittke, Nadja Siebert and 6 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
60citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

60 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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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

16 authors.

Franziska LeglerCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Max Delbrück for Molecular Medicine, Experimental and Clinical Research Centre, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
Lil Meyer-ArndtCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Max Delbrück for Molecular Medicine, Experimental and Clinical Research Centre, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
Lukas MödlCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Claudia KedorCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Medical Immunology, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Helma FreitagCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Medical Immunology, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Elisa SteinCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Medical Immunology, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Uta HoppmannCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Max Delbrück for Molecular Medicine, Experimental and Clinical Research Centre, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
Rebekka RustCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Max Delbrück for Molecular Medicine, Experimental and Clinical Research Centre, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
Kirsten WittkeCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Medical Immunology, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Nadja SiebertCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Research Centre, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Janina BehrensCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Research Centre, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Andreas ThielCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Regenerative Immunology and Aging, BIH Centre for Regenerative Therapies, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Frank KonietschkeCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Friedemann PaulCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Max Delbrück for Molecular Medicine, Experimental and Clinical Research Centre, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
Carmen ScheibenbogenCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Medical Immunology, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Judith Bellmann-StroblCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Max Delbrück for Molecular Medicine, Experimental and Clinical Research Centre, 13125 Berlin, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) is characterised by a wide range of symptoms, primarily fatigue and exertion intolerance. While disease courses in the early months post-infection have been well-described, the long-term health consequences for patients with PCS with disabling fatigue remain unclear. Methods: In this prospective observational cohort study, we evaluated symptom severity and various biomarkers, including hand grip strength (HGS), cardiovascular function, and laboratory parameters, in 106 patients with PCS with moderate to severe fatigue and exertion intolerance at three time points after infection (3-8, 9-16, and 17-20 months). The study was conducted at the Charité's Fatigue Centre and the Charité's outpatient clinic for neuroimmunology at Berlin, Germany from July 16, 2020, to February 18, 2022. A subset of patients (PCS-ME/CFS) met the diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome according to the Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC). The aim was to determine differences in the disease course between the two patient groups (i.e., PCS vs PCS-ME/CFS) and identify correlating biomarkers. Findings: Patients with PCS-ME/CFS reported persistently high severity of most symptoms up to 20 months after infection, while patients with PCS showed overall health improvement. Although fatigue and post-exertional malaise (PEM), hallmarks of post-infectious fatigue syndromes, were still evident in both groups, they remained more pronounced in PCS-ME/CFS. Inflammatory biomarkers decreased in both groups, but not antinuclear antibodies. Lower HGS at onset correlated with symptom persistence, particularly in patients with PCS-ME/CFS. Interpretation: Our findings suggest that PCS can persist beyond 20 months post-infection and encompass the full scope of post-infectious ME/CFS as defined by the CCC. Sub-classifying patients with PCS based on the CCC can assist in the management and monitoring of patients with PCS-ME/CFS due to their persistently higher symptom severity. Funding: C. S. was supported by a grant from the Weidenhammer-Zoebele Foundation. F. K. was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation.

Indexed as

Canadian consensus criteriaChronic fatigueExertion intoleranceHand grip strengthMyalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME-CFS)Post-COVID-19 syndromePost-exertional malaise (PEM)

Identifiers

PMID37662515
PMCPMC10469383

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.