Prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration in people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey. Issue 2 (14th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: DiIorio, Michael; Kennedy, Kevin; Liew, Jean W; Putman, Michael S; Sirotich, Emily; Sattui, Sebastian E; Foster, Gary; Harrison, Carly; Larché, Maggie J; Levine, Mitchell; Moni, Tarin T; Thabane, Lehana; Bhana, Suleman; Costello, Wendy; Grainger, Rebecca; Machado, Pedro M; Robinson, Philip C; Sufka, Paul; Wallace, Zachary S; Yazdany, Jinoos; Gore-Massy, Monique; Howard, Richard A; Kodhek, More A; Lalonde, Nadine; Tomasella, Laura-Ann; Wallace, John; Akpabio, Akpabio; Alpízar-Rodríguez, Deshiré; Beesley, Richard P; Berenbaum, Francis; Bulina, Inita; Chock, Eugenia Yupei; Conway, Richard; Duarte-García, Alí; Duff, Eimear; Gheita, Tamer A; Graef, Elizabeth R; Hsieh, Evelyn; El Kibbi, Lina; Liew, David FL; Lo, Chieh; Nudel, Michal; Singh, Aman Dev; Singh, Jasvinder A; Singh, Namrata; Ugarte-Gil, Manuel F; Hausmann, Jonathan S; Simard, Julia F; Sparks, Jeffrey A;
• Is Part Of: RMD open. Volume 8:Issue 2(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-09-14
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- patient reported outcome measures -- inflammation -- vaccination; Musculoskeletal system -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Rheumatism -- Periodicals; 616.7005
• DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002587
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2056-5933

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: We investigated prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration, defined as lasting 28 days or longer, among people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). Methods: We analysed data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey (2 April 2021–15 October 2021) to identify people with SARDs reporting test-confirmed COVID-19. Participants reported COVID-19 severity and symptom duration, sociodemographics and clinical characteristics. We reported the proportion experiencing prolonged symptom duration and investigated associations with baseline characteristics using logistic regression. Results: We identified 441 respondents with SARDs and COVID-19 (mean age 48.2 years, 83.7% female, 39.5% rheumatoid arthritis). The median COVID-19 symptom duration was 15 days (IQR 7, 25). Overall, 107 (24.2%) respondents had prolonged symptom duration (≥28 days); 42/429 (9.8%) reported symptoms lasting ≥90 days. Factors associated with higher odds of prolonged symptom duration included: hospitalisation for COVID-19 vs not hospitalised and mild acute symptoms (age-adjusted OR (aOR) 6.49, 95% CI 3.03 to 14.1), comorbidity count (aOR 1.11 per comorbidity, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.21) and osteoarthritis (aOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.01 to 4.27). COVID-19 onset in 2021 vs June 2020 or earlier was associated with lower odds of prolonged symptom duration (aOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.81). Conclusion: Most people with SARDs had complete symptom resolution by day 15 after COVID-19 onset. However, about 1 in 4 experienced COVID-19 symptom duration 28 days or longer; 1 in 10 experienced symptoms 90 days or longer. Future studies are needed to investigate the possible relationships between immunomodulating medications, SARD type/flare, vaccine doses and novel viral variants with prolonged COVID-19 symptoms and other postacute sequelae of COVID-19 among people with SARDs.