Clinical Manifestations of Subjects with Long COVID and Their Associations with Drug Use: The BioICOPER Study.

Background/

Objectives

Long COVID (LC) is associated with more than 200 symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between symptoms clusters and pharmacological treatment in patients with LC and to explore differences by sex.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study including 304 participants diagnosed with LC according to the World Health Organization criteria. Symptoms during the acute phase, at the time of diagnosis of LC, and those persisting across both phases were collected by anamnesis. Symptoms were grouped into six clusters: systemic, neurocognitive, respiratory/cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurological/neuromuscular, and psychological/psychiatric. Drug use was assessed through a questionnaire verified by the medical records, including the consumption of cardiovascular drugs, antidepressants/anxiolytics, and anti-inflammatory/analgesics.

Results

Patients reported a mean of 5.23 ± 1.10 symptoms in the acute phase, 4.20 ± 1.70 at LC diagnosis, and 3.83 ± 1.80 persisting across both phases. The most consumed pharmacological group was cardiovascular drugs (43.3%), followed by antidepressants/anxiolytics (34.8%). Psychotropic drugs and anti-inflammatory/analgesic drugs showed a positive association with all symptomatic groups (p < 0.05). Cardiovascular drugs showed a positive association with cardiorespiratory (β = 0.19, p < 0.05), neuromuscular (β = 0.11, p < 0.05), and psychological (β = 0.14, p < 0.05) symptoms.

Conclusions

Psychotropic and anti-inflammatory/analgesic drugs were positively associated with all symptom clusters, while cardiovascular drugs were associated only with cardiorespiratory, neuromuscular, and psychological symptoms, highlighting the relevance of better characterization of treatment patterns in this population.