Long-term changes in wearable sensor data in people with and without Long Covid, 2024, Jennifer M. Radin et al

Abstract
To better understand the impact of Long COVID on an individual, we explored changes in daily wearable data (step count, resting heart rate (RHR), and sleep quantity) for up to one year in individuals relative to their pre-infection baseline among 279 people with and 274 without long COVID.

Participants with Long COVID, defined as symptoms lasting for 30 days or longer, following a SARS-CoV-2 infection had significantly different RHR and activity trajectories than those who did not report Long COVID and were also more likely to be women, younger, unvaccinated, and report more acute-phase (first 2 weeks) symptoms than those without Long COVID.

Demographic, vaccine, and acute-phase sensor data differences could be used for early identification of individuals most likely to develop Long COVID complications and track objective evidence of the therapeutic efficacy of any interventions.
LINK

 

I don't think that post 30 days of having Covid would be a good indicator of having Long Covid. My RHR was up at least 4-6 months after contracting Covid. I didn't return to my baseline for at least 6-8 months.

 

I wonder if that's people at the 6-month stage still trying to be 'normal', so they keep overexerting and crashing and lying flat out and switched off, whereas by a year they've worked out some kind of pacing that allows for being more active day to day (just not as active as when they were well).

 

I showed something a little similar, where my RHR rose then seemed to improve a (little) bit before rising again. Onset from Jan 2021, while still exercising, with disabling crash in Jun 2021. Although in my case perhaps the Nov 21 reading was spuriously high as we came into summer, and I was probably doing more blood tests etc so maybe overdoing it (to Eleanor's point above).

 

That’s interesting that a similar timeframe around the 200 day 9-10month mark seems to be coming up for all of these including steps.


… thinking of Paul Garners experience for example

 

Or not having much choice - could there be a connection for some in having to push through due to their job vs those who had work from home type things at the time

I think it’s interesting that as makes sense to me the HR is showing difference before the number of steps only starts to be different between the two groups at 9months/200days.

we are all taught to push through being ill, although I’ve noticed more and more how some norms take themselves to bed or sit twiddling their thumbs at work when they have a cold.

hence why the one thing I’m sure of is length of timeframe and there needing to be more measures than just plain steps (gait would be interesting however) as it relates to commitments and how far the loo is from your bed, kitchen, desk vs how much you need the loo as much as anything.

Putting aside those who go to the gym for most norms how big your office and how far meetings are held that you have to walk to, if you walk your kid to school etc are going to be what makes up much of their steps for all the good intentions. And we don’t really get to live in a different world when we get ill so there is a huge floor effect issue with steps.

but any reduction in it represents probably quite huge changes underneath. Like having to reduce hours at work or work from home or stop being able to walk your child to school are more significant vs the steps they might represent and take time to put in place.

 

plus of course 'people with LC who use fitness trackers and respond to healthcare surveys' is only a subset of people with LC.

 

Says a lot about what I’ve seen the ‘system’ looks like.

intriguing because there’s as much chance they all had the same thing but different areas where clinics cared about different things. Where are the ones who ended up with an FND or hyperventilation or whatever some other places were doing diagnoses

 

That 9 months timeframe is interesting. I've read several accounts on X from pwLC saying they improved completely after 9 months. I felt completely recovered 9 months after my sudden viral M.E onset in 1992. The endocrinologist who did the thyroid scan told me I would most likely recover in 9 months because her sister in law recovered from a virus similar to mine after 9 months.

Of course I didn't recover. I had a relapse 4 weeks after returning to work.