A systematic review and meta-analysis of long-term sequelae of COVID-19 2-year after SARS-CoV-2 infection: A call to action for neurological, physical, and psychological sciences

Abstract

Long-term sequelae conditions of COVID-19 at least 2-year following SARS-CoV-2 infection are unclear and little is known about their prevalence, longitudinal trajectory, and potential risk factors. Therefore, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of survivors' health-related consequences and sequelae at 2-year following SARS-CoV-2 infection. PubMed/MEDLINE, CENTRAL, and EMBASE were systematically searched up to February 10, 2023. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to calculate the pooled effect size, expressed as event rate (ER) with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) of each outcome. Twelve studies involving 1 289 044 participants from 11 countries were included. A total of 41.7% of COVID-19 survivors experienced at least one unresolved symptom and 14.1% were unable to return to work at 2-year after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The most frequent symptoms and investigated findings at 2-year after SARS-CoV-2 infection were fatigue (27.4%; 95% CI 17%-40.9%), sleep difficulties (25.1%; 95% CI 22.4%-27.9%), impaired diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (24.6%; 95% CI 10.8%-46.9%), hair loss (10.2%; 95% CI 7.3%-14.2%), and dyspnea (10.1%; 95% CI 4.3%-21.9%). Individuals with severe infection suffered more from anxiety (OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.17-2.44) and had more impairments in forced vital capacity (OR = 9.70, 95% CI 1.94-48.41), total lung capacity (OR = 3.51, 95% CI 1.77-6.99), and residual volume (OR = 3.35, 95% CI 1.85-6.07) after recovery. Existing evidence suggest that participants with a higher risk of long-term sequelae were older, mostly female, had pre-existing medical comorbidities, with more severe status, underwent corticosteroid therapy, and higher inflammation at acute infection. Our findings suggest that 2-year after recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection, 41.7% of survivors still suffer from either neurological, physical, and psychological sequela. These findings indicate that there is an urgent need to preclude persistent or emerging long-term sequelae and provide intervention strategies to reduce the risk of long COVID.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; long COVID; meta-analysis; prevalence.