Symptom patterns and life with post-acute COVID-19 in children aged 8-17: a mixed methods studyprotocol.

Background: While there is a substantial body of knowledge about acute COVID-19, less is known about long-COVID, where symptoms continue beyond 4 weeks.

Aim: To describe longer-term effects of COVID-19 infection in children and young people (CYP) and identify their needs in relation to long-COVID.

Design & setting: This study comprises an observational prospective cohort study and a linked qualitative study, identifying participants aged 8–17 years in the West Midlands of England.

Method: CYP will be invited to complete online questionnaires to monitor incidences and symptoms of COVID-19 over a 12-month period. CYP who have experienced long-term effects of COVID will be invited to interview, and those currently experiencing symptoms will be asked to document their experiences in a diary. Professionals who work with CYP will be invited to explore the impact of long-COVID on the wider experiences of CYP, in a focus group. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe the incidence and rates of resolution of symptoms, and comparisons will be made between exposed and non-exposed groups. Logistic regression models will be used to estimate associations between candidate predictors and the development of long-COVID, and linear regression will be used to estimate associations between candidate predictors. Qualitative data will be analysed thematically using the constant comparison method.

Conclusion: This study will describe features and symptoms of long-COVID and explore the impact of long-COVID within the lives of CYP and their families, to provide better understanding of long-COVID and inform clinical practice.

Citation

Faux-Nightingale, A., Burton, C., Twohig, H., Bucknall, M., Carroll, W., Chew-Graham, C., …Welsh, V. (2023). Symptom patterns and life with post-acute COVID-19 in children aged 8-17: a mixed methods studyprotocol. British Journal of General Practice Open (BJGP Open), 7(2), Article BJGPO20220149. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgpo.2022.0149

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 3, 2023
Online Publication Date	Jun 27, 2023
Publication Date	2023-02
Publicly Available Date	Jun 20, 2023
Journal	BJGP Open
Print ISSN	2398-3795
Publisher	Royal College of General Practitioners
Volume	7
Issue	2
Article Number	BJGPO20220149
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgpo.2022.0149
Keywords	COVID-19; child health; primary health care; long-COVID; symptom patterns
Publisher URL	https://bjgpopen.org/content/early/2023/02/08/BJGPO.2022.0149
PMID	36759021