Post‐COVID‐19‐associated multiorgan complications or “long COVID” with literature review and management strategy discussion: A meta‐analysis

Objective

To investigate the post‐COVID‐19 long‐term complications or long COVID of various organ systems in patients after 3 months of the infection, specifically before the Omicron variant, with comparative literature analysis.

Methods

A systemic literature search and meta‐analysis were conducted using multiple electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane library) with predefined search terms to identify eligible articles. Eligible studies reported long‐term complications of COVID‐19 infection before the Omicron variant infection. Case reports, case series, observational studies with cross‐sectional or prospective research design, case–control studies, and experimental studies that reported post‐COVID‐19 complications were included. The complications reported after 3 months after the recovery from COVID‐19 infection were included in the study.

Results

The total number of studies available for analysis was 34. The effect size (ES) for neurological complications was 29% with 95% confidence interval (CI): 19%–39%. ES for psychiatric complications was 24% with 95% CI: 7%–41%. ES was 9% for cardiac outcomes, with a 95% CI of 1%–18%. ES was 22%, 95% CI: 5%–39% for the gastrointestinal outcome. ES for musculoskeletal symptoms was 18% with 95% CI: 9%–28%. ES for pulmonary complications was 28% with 95% CI: 18%–37%. ES for dermatological complications was 25%, with a 95% CI of 23%–26%. ES for endocrine outcomes was 8%, with a 95% CI of 8%–9%. ES size for renal outcomes was 3% with a 95% CI of 1%–7%. At the same time, other miscellaneous uncategorized outcomes had ES of 39% with 95% CI of 21%–57%. Apart from analyzing COVID‐19 systemic complications outcomes, the ES for hospitalization and intensive care unit admissions were found to be 4%, 95% CI: 0%–7%, and 11% with 95% CI: 8%–14%.

Conclusion

By acquiring the data and statistically analyzing the post‐COVID‐19 complications during the prevalence of most virulent strains, this study has generated a different way of understanding COVID‐19 and its complications for better community health.

Other Information

Published in: Health Science Reports
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
See article on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.1211