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      How do long COVID patients perceive their current life situation and occupational perspective? Results of a qualitative interview study in Germany

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          Abstract

          Introduction

          Many people experience persistent or new-onset symptoms such as fatigue or cognitive problems after an acute infection with COVID-19. This phenomenon, known as long COVID, impacts physical and mental wellbeing, and may affect perceived quality of life and occupational perspectives likewise. The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how people with long COVID experience health-related restrictions in their daily life and their occupational situation, and to identify key challenges they face.

          Methods

          Guided qualitative interviews were conducted with 25 people with long COVID. The interviews were transcribed according to Dresing/Pehl and Kuckartz and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Afterward, a systematic comparison of the data and a reflection under consideration of lifeworld-theoretical approaches (Berger and Luckmann) were carried out.

          Results

          The interviews revealed that many participants have severe symptoms which strongly impair them in perform daily and work-related activities, and in their personal interests. Many interviewees already reach their stress limit during routine household activities or childcare. Of the 25 participants, 19 experienced limitations in pursuing leisure activities, and 10 of the 23 interviewees with jobs reported being on sick leave for several months. Several respondents who had vocational reintegration are still affected by ongoing symptoms that affect their work performance considerably. This leads to uncertainty, role conflicts, a decline in social contacts, and decreased incomes, which contribute to an impairment in their quality of life.

          Conclusions

          This study shows the huge need for specific support for people with long COVID in different areas of life. To prevent people with long COVID from finding themselves in social and economic precarity, decision-makers should develop strategies to systematically support them in their sustainable reintegration into the workforce. The focus should be on creating long COVID-sensitive workplaces, compensating for decreased incomes, and improving access to relief services such as vocational reintegration. We argue, that a shift of perspectives is necessary and that long COVID should be considered rather as a “social disease” with considerably impairments in the social life of those affected.

          Trial registration

          The study is registered in the German register for clinical trials (DRKS00026007).

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          Most cited references38

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          Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups.

          Qualitative research explores complex phenomena encountered by clinicians, health care providers, policy makers and consumers. Although partial checklists are available, no consolidated reporting framework exists for any type of qualitative design. To develop a checklist for explicit and comprehensive reporting of qualitative studies (in depth interviews and focus groups). We performed a comprehensive search in Cochrane and Campbell Protocols, Medline, CINAHL, systematic reviews of qualitative studies, author or reviewer guidelines of major medical journals and reference lists of relevant publications for existing checklists used to assess qualitative studies. Seventy-six items from 22 checklists were compiled into a comprehensive list. All items were grouped into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. Duplicate items and those that were ambiguous, too broadly defined and impractical to assess were removed. Items most frequently included in the checklists related to sampling method, setting for data collection, method of data collection, respondent validation of findings, method of recording data, description of the derivation of themes and inclusion of supporting quotations. We grouped all items into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. The criteria included in COREQ, a 32-item checklist, can help researchers to report important aspects of the research team, study methods, context of the study, findings, analysis and interpretations.
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            How Many Interviews Are Enough?: An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability

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              Symptoms and risk factors for long COVID in non-hospitalized adults

              Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with a range of persistent symptoms impacting everyday functioning, known as post-COVID-19 condition or long COVID. We undertook a retrospective matched cohort study using a UK-based primary care database, Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum, to determine symptoms that are associated with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection beyond 12 weeks in non-hospitalized adults and the risk factors associated with developing persistent symptoms. We selected 486,149 adults with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and 1,944,580 propensity score-matched adults with no recorded evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Outcomes included 115 individual symptoms, as well as long COVID, defined as a composite outcome of 33 symptoms by the World Health Organization clinical case definition. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for the outcomes. A total of 62 symptoms were significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection after 12 weeks. The largest aHRs were for anosmia (aHR 6.49, 95% CI 5.02–8.39), hair loss (3.99, 3.63–4.39), sneezing (2.77, 1.40–5.50), ejaculation difficulty (2.63, 1.61–4.28) and reduced libido (2.36, 1.61–3.47). Among the cohort of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, risk factors for long COVID included female sex, belonging to an ethnic minority, socioeconomic deprivation, smoking, obesity and a wide range of comorbidities. The risk of developing long COVID was also found to be increased along a gradient of decreasing age. SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with a plethora of symptoms that are associated with a range of sociodemographic and clinical risk factors. A retrospective analysis of primary care records in the United Kingdom reveals individual symptoms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections, which persisted for 12 weeks or more after infection, as well as risk factors associated with developing long COVID.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Public Health
                Front Public Health
                Front. Public Health
                Frontiers in Public Health
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                2296-2565
                09 March 2023
                2023
                09 March 2023
                : 11
                : 1155193
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Göttingen , Göttingen, Germany
                [2] 2Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School , Hannover, Germany
                Author notes

                Edited by: Enrico Bergamaschi, University of Turin, Italy

                Reviewed by: Matteo Riccò, IRCCS Local Health Authority of Reggio Emilia, Italy; Maria Francesca Piazza, University of Genoa, Italy

                *Correspondence: Tim Schmachtenberg tim.schmachtenberg@ 123456med.uni-goettingen.de

                This article was submitted to Occupational Health and Safety, a section of the journal Frontiers in Public Health

                Article
                10.3389/fpubh.2023.1155193
                10034079
                36969629
                8221b947-2c89-4fad-9549-4107994834ff
                Copyright © 2023 Schmachtenberg, Müller, Kranz, Dragaqina, Wegener, Königs and Roder.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 31 January 2023
                : 21 February 2023
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 2, Equations: 0, References: 45, Pages: 13, Words: 10316
                Funding
                Funded by: European Regional Development Fund, doi 10.13039/501100008530;
                The DEFEAT Corona received funding from the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD; Funding No: ZW7-85152953). The funding source had no role in the studies' design, execution, analyses, interpretation of the data, or decision to submit the results.
                Categories
                Public Health
                Original Research

                long covid,life situation,occupational perspective,social aspects,work,qualitative research,interview study,quality of life

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