The long-term sequelae of COVID-19: an international consensus on research priorities for patients with pre-existing and new-onset airways disease

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  • International COVID-19 Airways Diseases Group

Persistent ill health after acute COVID-19—referred to as long COVID, the post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, or the post-COVID-19 condition—has emerged as a major concern. We undertook an international consensus exercise to identify research priorities with the aim of understanding the long-term effects of acute COVID-19, with a focus on people with pre-existing airways disease and the occurrence of new-onset airways disease and associated symptoms. 202 international experts were invited to submit a minimum of three research ideas. After a two-phase internal review process, a final list of 98 research topics was scored by 48 experts. Patients with pre-existing or post-COVID-19 airways disease contributed to the exercise by weighting selected criteria. The highest-ranked research idea focused on investigation of the relationship between prognostic scores at hospital admission and morbidity at 3 months and 12 months after hospital discharge in patients with and without pre-existing airways disease. High priority was also assigned to comparisons of the prevalence and severity of post-COVID-19 fatigue, sarcopenia, anxiety, depression, and risk of future cardiovascular complications in patients with and without pre-existing airways disease. Our approach has enabled development of a set of priorities that could inform future research studies and funding decisions. This prioritisation process could also be adapted to other, non-respiratory aspects of long COVID.

Original languageEnglish
JournalThe Lancet Respiratory Medicine
Volume9
Issue number12
Pages (from-to)1467-1478
Number of pages12
ISSN2213-2600
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study and the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) consortium are supported by a grant to the University of Leicester from the Medical Research Council (MRC)?UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) rapid response panel to tackle COVID-19. The NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre is a partnership between the University Hospitals of Leicester National Health Service (NHS) Trust, the University of Leicester, and Loughborough University. The study was also supported by the UK Health Data Research BREATHE Hub. PHOSP-COVID is registered with the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN10980107). The funders of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of the report, or the decision to submit for publication. We acknowledge the contributions of the following experts who submitted research ideas: David Denning, Rachael Evans, Paula Kauppi, Paul Mcnamara, Shoaib Faruqi, Nikos Papadopoulos, Michael Wechsler, George Slavich, Sian Williams, and Neil Fitch. We also acknowledge the support of the following groups to the initiative: the Severe Asthma Registry Network, the UK Bronchiectasis Network and Biobank, the Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Partnership, and the International Primary Care Respiratory Group. Martha McIlvenny contributed to the administration of the project. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, MRC?UKRI, NIHR, or DHSC.

Funding Information:
CEB reports grants from the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study during the conduct of the study. JRH reports personal fees and non-financial support from pharmaceutical companies (AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline) that make medicines to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, outside the submitted work. JDC reports grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim, and personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Insmed, Novartis, Chiesi, and Zambon, outside the submitted work. PEP reports personal fees and non-financial support from AstraZeneca, and a grant and non-financial support from GlaxoSmithKline, outside the submitted work. AS reports grants from the Health Data Research UK BREATHE Hub, the Medical Research Council, and the National Institute for Health Research, during the conduct of the study. ADS has received medical education grant support for BRONCH-UK, a UK bronchiectasis network, from GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, Chiesi, and Forest labs, and his institution receives fees for his work as coordinating investigator on a phase 3 trial in bronchiectasis sponsored by Bayer. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Funding Information:
This study and the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) consortium are supported by a grant to the University of Leicester from the Medical Research Council (MRC)–UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) rapid response panel to tackle COVID-19. The NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre is a partnership between the University Hospitals of Leicester National Health Service (NHS) Trust, the University of Leicester, and Loughborough University. The study was also supported by the UK Health Data Research BREATHE Hub. PHOSP-COVID is registered with the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN10980107). The funders of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of the report, or the decision to submit for publication. We acknowledge the contributions of the following experts who submitted research ideas: David Denning, Rachael Evans, Paula Kauppi, Paul Mcnamara, Shoaib Faruqi, Nikos Papadopoulos, Michael Wechsler, George Slavich, Sian Williams, and Neil Fitch. We also acknowledge the support of the following groups to the initiative: the Severe Asthma Registry Network, the UK Bronchiectasis Network and Biobank, the Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Partnership, and the International Primary Care Respiratory Group. Martha McIlvenny contributed to the administration of the project. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, MRC–UKRI, NIHR, or DHSC.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

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