Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study
Objectives To estimate the prevalence of long COVID symptoms in children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to evaluate factors associated with long COVID.Design A nationwide cross-sectional study.Setting Primary care.Participants 3240 parents of children aged 5–18 with and witho...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2023-02-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/2/e064155.full |
| _version_ | 1797900204477775872 |
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| author | Robert Hoffman Zachi Grossman Joseph Azuri Limor Adler Moran Israel Ilan Yehoshua Arnon Shahar Miri Mizrahi Reuveni |
| author_facet | Robert Hoffman Zachi Grossman Joseph Azuri Limor Adler Moran Israel Ilan Yehoshua Arnon Shahar Miri Mizrahi Reuveni |
| author_sort | Robert Hoffman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives To estimate the prevalence of long COVID symptoms in children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to evaluate factors associated with long COVID.Design A nationwide cross-sectional study.Setting Primary care.Participants 3240 parents of children aged 5–18 with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection completed an online questionnaire (11.9% response rate); 1148 and 2092 with/without a history of infection, respectively.Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcome was the prevalence of long COVID symptoms in children with/without a history of infection. Secondary outcomes were the factors associated with the presence of long COVID symptoms and with failure to return to baseline health status in children with a history of infection including gender, age, time from illness, symptomatic illness and vaccine status.Results Most long COVID symptoms were more prevalent in children with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: headaches (211 (18.4%) vs 114 (5.4%), p<0.001), weakness (173 (15.1%) vs 70 (3.3%), p<0.001), fatigue (141 (12.3%) vs 133 (6.4%), p<0.001) and abdominal pain (109 (9.5%) vs 79 (3.8%), p<0.001). Most long COVID symptoms in children with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection were more prevalent in the older age group (12–18) compared with the younger age group (5–11). Some symptoms were more prevalent in children without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including attention problems with school malfunctioning (225 (10.8%) vs 98 (8.5%), p=0.05), stress (190 (9.1%) vs 65 (5.7%), p<0.001), social problems (164 (7.8%) vs 32 (2.8%)) and weight changes (143 (6.8%) vs 43 (3.7%), p<0.001).Conclusion This study suggests that the prevalence of long COVID symptoms in children with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection might be higher and more prevalent in adolescents than in young children. Some of the symptoms, mainly somatic symptoms, were more prevalent in children without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, highlighting the impact of the pandemic itself rather than the infection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T08:42:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26ab94dc7efa4a5e934edb1a28eddd4e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T08:42:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-26ab94dc7efa4a5e934edb1a28eddd4e2023-02-22T23:30:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552023-02-0113210.1136/bmjopen-2022-064155Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional studyRobert Hoffman0Zachi Grossman1Joseph Azuri2Limor Adler3Moran Israel4Ilan Yehoshua5Arnon Shahar6Miri Mizrahi Reuveni7Department of Family Medicine, Tel Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv, IsraelHealth Division, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, IsraelDepartment of Family Medicine, Tel Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv, IsraelDepartment of Family Medicine, Tel Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv, IsraelHealth Division, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, IsraelHealth Division, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, IsraelHealth Division, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, IsraelHealth Division, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, IsraelObjectives To estimate the prevalence of long COVID symptoms in children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to evaluate factors associated with long COVID.Design A nationwide cross-sectional study.Setting Primary care.Participants 3240 parents of children aged 5–18 with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection completed an online questionnaire (11.9% response rate); 1148 and 2092 with/without a history of infection, respectively.Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcome was the prevalence of long COVID symptoms in children with/without a history of infection. Secondary outcomes were the factors associated with the presence of long COVID symptoms and with failure to return to baseline health status in children with a history of infection including gender, age, time from illness, symptomatic illness and vaccine status.Results Most long COVID symptoms were more prevalent in children with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: headaches (211 (18.4%) vs 114 (5.4%), p<0.001), weakness (173 (15.1%) vs 70 (3.3%), p<0.001), fatigue (141 (12.3%) vs 133 (6.4%), p<0.001) and abdominal pain (109 (9.5%) vs 79 (3.8%), p<0.001). Most long COVID symptoms in children with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection were more prevalent in the older age group (12–18) compared with the younger age group (5–11). Some symptoms were more prevalent in children without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including attention problems with school malfunctioning (225 (10.8%) vs 98 (8.5%), p=0.05), stress (190 (9.1%) vs 65 (5.7%), p<0.001), social problems (164 (7.8%) vs 32 (2.8%)) and weight changes (143 (6.8%) vs 43 (3.7%), p<0.001).Conclusion This study suggests that the prevalence of long COVID symptoms in children with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection might be higher and more prevalent in adolescents than in young children. Some of the symptoms, mainly somatic symptoms, were more prevalent in children without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, highlighting the impact of the pandemic itself rather than the infection.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/2/e064155.full |
| spellingShingle | Robert Hoffman Zachi Grossman Joseph Azuri Limor Adler Moran Israel Ilan Yehoshua Arnon Shahar Miri Mizrahi Reuveni Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study BMJ Open |
| title | Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Long COVID symptoms in Israeli children with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | long covid symptoms in israeli children with and without a history of sars cov 2 infection a cross sectional study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/2/e064155.full |
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