Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Apr 26;18(4):e0285051.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285051. eCollection 2023.

LOCUS (LOng Covid-Understanding Symptoms, events and use of services in Portugal): A three-component study protocol

J P Dinis Teixeira  1 , Mário J D S Santos  2 , Patrícia Soares  2 , Luísa de Azevedo  3 , Patrícia Barbosa  1 , Andreia Vilas Boas  4   5 , João V Cordeiro  2   6 , Sónia Dias  2 , Marta Fonseca  7 , Ana Rita Goes  2 , Maria João Lobão  2   8 , Marta Moniz  2 , Sofia Nóbrega  9 , André Peralta-Santos  2 , Víctor Ramos  1 , João Victor Rocha  2 , António Carlos da Silva  10 , Maria da Luz Brazão  9 , Andreia Leite  2   11 , Carla Nunes  2
Affiliations

LOCUS (LOng Covid-Understanding Symptoms, events and use of services in Portugal): A three-component study protocol

J P Dinis Teixeira et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Approximately 10% of patients experience symptoms of Post COVID-19 Condition (PCC) after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Akin acute COVID-19, PCC may impact a multitude of organs and systems, such as the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neurological systems. The frequency and associated risk factors of PCC are still unclear among both community and hospital settings in individuals with a history of COVID-19. The LOCUS study was designed to clarify the PCC's burden and associated risk factors. LOCUS is a multi-component study that encompasses three complementary building blocks. The "Cardiovascular and respiratory events following COVID-19" component is set to estimate the incidence of cardiovascular and respiratory events after COVID-19 in eight Portuguese hospitals via electronic health records consultation. The "Physical and mental symptoms following COVID-19" component aims to address the community prevalence of self-reported PCC symptoms through a questionnaire-based approach. Finally, the "Treating and living with Post COVID-19 Condition" component will employ semi-structured interviews and focus groups to characterise reported experiences of using or working in healthcare and community services for the treatment of PCC symptoms. This multi-component study represents an innovative approach to exploring the health consequences of PCC. Its results are expected to provide a key contribution to the optimisation of healthcare services design.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Conceptualization of the three components of the study.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Map depicting the geographic distribution of the hospitals that will be enrolled in the study: Algarve University Hospital Centre—Portimão Unit, Braga Hospital, Cascais Hospital, Coimbra University Hospital Centre, Funchal Central Hospital, Póvoa de Varzim / Vila do Conde Hospital Centre, Tondela-Viseu Hospital, Vila Real Hospital (Created with mapchart.net).
Fig 3
Fig 3. Timeline with key points of the “Physical and mental symptoms following COVID-19” component data collection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. COVID Live—Coronavirus Statistics—Worldometer [Internet]. 2022. [cited 2022 Aug 6]. Available from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.
    1. Chen C, Haupert SR, Zimmermann L, Shi X, Fritsche LG, Mukherjee B. Global Prevalence of Post-Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Condition or Long COVID: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review. J Infect Dis. 2022. Apr 16;jiac136. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac136 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aiyegbusi OL, Hughes SE, Turner G, Rivera SC, McMullan C, Chandan JS, et al.. Symptoms, complications and management of long COVID: a review. J R Soc Med. 2021. Sep;114(9):428–42. doi: 10.1177/01410768211032850 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Crook H, Raza S, Nowell J, Young M, Edison P. Long covid—mechanisms, risk factors, and management. BMJ. 2021. Jul 26;n1648. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n1648 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Huang C, Huang L, Wang Y, Li X, Ren L, Gu X, et al.. 6-month consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: a cohort study. The Lancet. 2021. Jan;397(10270):220–32. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32656-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types