Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40937423›Full record

ArticleBMJ public health2025

Well-being among people with long and short COVID: a serial cross-sectional study in Victoria, Australia.

Aimée Altermatt, Anna L Wilkinson, Katherine Heath, Defeng Jin, Thi Nguyen, Alexander J Thomas, Tianhui Ke, Yanqin Zhang, Rebecca E Ryan, Lisa Gibbs and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

16 authors.

Aimée AltermattDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3617-2413
Anna L WilkinsonDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4475-5224
Katherine HeathDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Defeng JinDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Thi NguyenDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Alexander J ThomasDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Tianhui KeDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Yanqin ZhangDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7869-8398
Rebecca E RyanLa Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Lisa GibbsMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Alisa PedranaDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Dean LusherCentre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
Stephanie Fletcher-LarteySouth Western Sydney and Sydney Local Health Districts Population Health, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia.
Mark StoovéDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Katherine B GibneyDepartment of Infectious Diseases, University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, VIC, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Margaret HellardDisease Elimination, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: It is critical to disseminate all evidence on long COVID's impact on people's lives to inform policy and practice. We aimed to assess five measures of well-being, before and after SARS-CoV-2 infection between people with long COVID (defined as symptoms lasting more than 1 month) and people with short COVID (defined as symptoms resolving within 1 month). Methods: Participants from the Optimise Study, a longitudinal cohort study in Victoria, Australia (September 2020-August 2022), had self-reported history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and self-reported long COVID status. Serial cross-sectional analysis compared participants with long and short COVID on Personal Well-being Index, number of COVID-19-like symptoms experienced, number of days exercised and frequency of experiencing positive and negative emotions. Results: 217 participants were included, aged 20-86 years (median age 43, IQR: 31-57), 75% women. Compared with those with short COVID, participants with long COVID had lower well-being before (mean difference (MD)=-8.3, 95% CI (-14.7, -2.0), p-adjusted=0.07), during (MD=-10.3, 95% CI (-16.5, -4.0), p-adjusted=0.03) and after (MD=-9.91, 95% CI (-16.71, -3.11), p-adjusted=0.05) infection and experienced more COVID-19-like symptoms during infection (MD=1.72 (0.72, 2.72), p-adjusted=0.03). In December 2022, 71% (40/56) reported difficulty performing tasks in the past 4 weeks. Conclusion: On average, we observed lower well-being among participants with long COVID, including before SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggesting an underlying difference in well-being between groups. Long COVID continued to impact physical functioning, but ongoing changes were not detected by personal well-being scales.

Indexed as

COVID-19Long COVIDPersonalWell-beingIndexQuality of lifeWell-being

Identifiers

PMID40937423
PMCPMC12421172

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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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 Socratic graph.