Long COVID Classification: Findings from a Clustering Analysis in the Predi-COVID Cohort Study 2022 Fischer et al

Abstract

The increasing number of people living with Long COVID requires the development of more personalized care; currently, limited treatment options and rehabilitation programs adapted to the variety of Long COVID presentations are available. Our objective was to design an easy-to-use Long COVID classification to help stratify people with Long COVID. Individual characteristics and a detailed set of 62 self-reported persisting symptoms together with quality of life indexes 12 months after initial COVID-19 infection were collected in a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 infected people in Luxembourg. A hierarchical ascendant classification (HAC) was used to identify clusters of people.

We identified three patterns of Long COVID symptoms with a gradient in disease severity. Cluster-Mild encompassed almost 50% of the study population and was composed of participants with less severe initial infection, fewer comorbidities, and fewer persisting symptoms (mean = 2.9). Cluster-Moderate was characterized by a mean of 11 persisting symptoms and poor sleep and respiratory quality of life. Compared to the other clusters, Cluster-Severe was characterized by a higher proportion of women and smokers with a higher number of Long COVID symptoms, in particular vascular, urinary, and skin symptoms.

Our study evidenced that Long COVID can be stratified into three subcategories in terms of severity. If replicated in other populations, this simple classification will help clinicians improve the care of people with Long COVID.

Open access, https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/16018

 

Supplementary Materials - .ZIP https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph192316018/s1


Table S2. Full list of features included in the clustering.

Sociodemographic Characteristics and Initial Severity Classification
Inclusion at home or at hospital
Gender
Age
BMI
Weight loss in last 6 months
Smoking status
Classification severity initial illness
Blood type

Comorbidities
Hypertension
Cardiac diseases
Pulmonary diseases
Asthma
Renal diseases
Hepatic diseases
Neurological diseases
Cancer
Hematological diseases
Obesity
Diabetes
Rheumatological diseases
Malnutrition
COPD

Symptoms at inclusion
Fever
Cough
Cough_sputum
Cough hemoptysis
Sore throat
Rhinorrhea
Earache
Wheezing
Chest_pain
Myalgia
Arthralgia
Fatigue
Dyspnea
Chest tightness
Cephalea
Confusion
Abdominal pain
Nausea
Diarrhea
Conjunctivitis
Skin rash
Lymphadenopathy
Fall
Hemorrhage

Persisting symptoms at 12 months by categories
Ear Nose Throat (ENT) symptoms
Neurological symptoms
General symptoms
Cardio‐respiratory symptoms
Gastrointestinal symptoms
Vascular symptoms
Urinary symptoms
Skin symptoms

 

Other than in confirming, yet again, the scale and significance of the overall issue, this is just another useless study that is less comprehensive than the patient-led studies published 2 years ago.

But denial remains firmly cemented in place. Somehow. Well, we know how, and why. But any entry-level study like this will never add anything until serious efforts get under way, with a very different approach than this.