Defining Post-COVID Symptoms (Post-Acute COVID, Long COVID, Persistent Post-COVID): An Integrative Classification

César Fernández- de-las-Peñas, Domingo Palacios-Ceña, Víctor Gómez-Mayordomo, María L. Cuadrado and Lidiane L. Florencio
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César Fernández- de-las-Peñas: Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), 28922 Madrid, Spain
Domingo Palacios-Ceña: Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), 28922 Madrid, Spain
Víctor Gómez-Mayordomo: Department of Neurology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, 28040 Madrid, Spain
María L. Cuadrado: Department of Neurology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Lidiane L. Florencio: Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), 28922 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: The pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has provoked a second pandemic, the “long-haulers”, i.e., individuals presenting with post-COVID symptoms. We propose that to determine the presence of post-COVID symptoms, symptoms should appear after the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection; however, this situation has some problems due to the fact that not all people infected by SARS-CoV-2 receive such diagnosis. Based on relapsing/remitting nature of post-COVID symptoms, the following integrative classification is proposed: potentially infection related-symptoms (up to 4–5 weeks), acute post-COVID symptoms (from week 5 to week 12), long post-COVID symptoms (from week 12 to week 24), and persistent post-COVID symptoms (lasting more than 24 weeks). The most important topic is to establish the time reference points. The classification also integrates predisposing intrinsic and extrinsic factors and hospitalization data which could promote post-COVID symptoms. The plethora of symptoms affecting multiple systems exhibited by “long-haulers” suggests the presence of different underlying mechanisms.

Keywords: COVID-19; long COVID; persistent; symptoms; classification; definition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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