A Systematic Review Of Persistent Symptoms And Residual Abnormal Functioning Following Acute COVID-19: Ongoing Symptomatic Phase Vs. Post-COVID-19 Syndrome

The systematic review analyzed 39 studies to compare the ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 (OSC) and post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) phases of long COVID. It found that fatigue was the most common symptom in both phases, affecting 43% of OSC and 44% of PCS patients. Other prevalent symptoms included sleep disorders, dyspnoea, and cough, with abnormal lung function more frequent in OSC and anxiety, depression, and decreased quality of life more common in PCS. Hair loss was reported by 20% of PCS patients. The study concluded that symptoms varied widely, with moderate evidence quality, and emphasized the need for further research on long COVID symptom trajectories.