A year of Predi-COVID 

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• Zentrum für Klinische und Epidemiologische Untersuchungen (CIEC)

Luxembourgish cohort study to dig deeper into „Long COVID“ Syndrome

On May 5th 2020, the first participants were being enrolled in the newly launched Predi-COVID cohort. Fast-forward to May 2021, these initial volunteers have been invited to take part in the final follow-up foreseen under the study, which will specifically seek to shed light on the features of “Long COVID” through a new dedicated questionnaire.

Chronic COVID Syndrome (CCS), also known as “Long COVID”, has been emerging as a de facto medical condition, referring to the persistence of COVID-19 symptoms for more than 3 weeks after initial infection. Some of the most frequently observed long-term health consequences of COVID-19 include tachycardia, extreme fatigue and respiratory symptoms, but also renal, cardiac, neurological and gastrointestinal complications in the most severe cases. However, the diversity of signs and manifestations of “Long COVID” calls for further research into this emergent syndrome.

A year after the launch of the patient recruitment phase, the initial participants will be asked to complete one last online self-reported questionnaire as part of the final round of follow-ups within Predi-COVID. This new extended form was developed by the research team in order to specifically address and study the long-term symptoms of COVID-19.

“Up until now, only some of the most frequently reported long-term health effects of COVID-19 have been covered under Predi-COVID. Adding a tailored questionnaire at the end of the follow-up to collect complementary information on a large spectrum of chronic signs or symptoms potentially related to COVID-19 could therefore increase the value of the cohort study and of associated spin-off projects”, explains Dr Guy Fagherazzi, Director of the LIH Department of Population Health (DoPH) and Principal Investigator of Predi-COVID.     

In addition to the symptoms previously assessed by the former follow-ups, the extended final questionnaire will include a variety of new topics and potential COVID-related effects. These include stress and anxiety, emotions, memory impairment, extreme fatigue, pain, allergy, renal complications, cardiovascular complications (such as tachycardia and coagulation), neurological complications (such as migraine), gastrointestinal complications, as well as any other symptoms that may have appeared since the initial COVID-19 diagnosis.

As Predi-COVID now celebrates its first anniversary, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all participants who have already allowed us to collect meaningful clinical, biological, epidemiological and sociodemographic data, which will ultimately help us predict the way the disease will evolve in a given individual. I also take this opportunity to stress again the importance of filling out this last questionnaire, which will provide insightful information on the still unclear characteristics of the Long COVID syndrome

Dr Fagherazzi concludes.