TY - JOUR
T1 - The use of patient-reported outcome questionnaires in patients with post-COVID-19 condition
T2 - a systematic review and meta-analysis
AU - Khawandi, Jana
AU - Kivan, Husam
AU - Al Hussein, Sahar
AU - Azzam, Muayad
AU - Nazzal, Jamil
AU - Vasquez Camargo, Andrea
AU - Kamrul, Rejina
AU - Al Khader, Aseel
AU - Kawtharany, Hassan
AU - Al Zabibi, Mohammad Amin
AU - Ahmad, Jood
AU - Patel, Khushi
AU - Rehman, Aqeeb Ur
AU - Ahmed, Zayna
AU - Piché, Alain
AU - McNaughton, Candace D.
AU - Lam, Grace Y.
AU - Oudit, Gavin Y.
AU - Afzal, Samia
AU - Schunemann, Holger
AU - Wiercioch, Wojtek
AU - Nieuwlaat, Robby
AU - Brignardello-Petersen, Romina
AU - Falcone, Emilia Liana
AU - Mustafa, Reem A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected]. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights)
PY - 2026/10
Y1 - 2026/10
N2 - Background and Objective: Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) is a complication of acute COVID-19, which often presents with a variety of symptoms. It can also impact individuals' overall well-being, capacity to carry out daily activities, engage in physical exercise, maintain employment, and their general quality of life. Therefore, this review aimed to examine the role of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) questionnaires in assessing patients with PCC through prevalence of abnormal tests. Methods: We searched three databases. Two reviewers independently screened articles using Laser Al and extracted relevant data using a piloted Google Sheets. We performed a meta-analysis using OpenMeta and RevManWeb and conducted a subgroup analysis based on the setting of the patients during their acute COVID-19 infection. We assessed the risk of bias using a modified ROBINS-I tool and the certainty using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. Results: No studies reported diagnostic test accuracy measures for questionnaires in PCC. However, 23 comparative studies reported on the prevalence of abnormal questionnaire results in patients with PCC. Outcomes showed that patients with PCC have higher abnormal results than controls, regardless of their setting during acute COVID-19 infection. The overall certainty of the evidence was low due to the high risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision. Conclusion: This review sheds light on the importance of testing PROMs in patients with PCC using these questionnaires and the need for further testing their validity in this condition.
AB - Background and Objective: Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) is a complication of acute COVID-19, which often presents with a variety of symptoms. It can also impact individuals' overall well-being, capacity to carry out daily activities, engage in physical exercise, maintain employment, and their general quality of life. Therefore, this review aimed to examine the role of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) questionnaires in assessing patients with PCC through prevalence of abnormal tests. Methods: We searched three databases. Two reviewers independently screened articles using Laser Al and extracted relevant data using a piloted Google Sheets. We performed a meta-analysis using OpenMeta and RevManWeb and conducted a subgroup analysis based on the setting of the patients during their acute COVID-19 infection. We assessed the risk of bias using a modified ROBINS-I tool and the certainty using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. Results: No studies reported diagnostic test accuracy measures for questionnaires in PCC. However, 23 comparative studies reported on the prevalence of abnormal questionnaire results in patients with PCC. Outcomes showed that patients with PCC have higher abnormal results than controls, regardless of their setting during acute COVID-19 infection. The overall certainty of the evidence was low due to the high risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision. Conclusion: This review sheds light on the importance of testing PROMs in patients with PCC using these questionnaires and the need for further testing their validity in this condition.
KW - diagnosis
KW - EuroQol
KW - long Covid
KW - PCFS
KW - post-COVID-19
KW - questionnaires
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046053197
U2 - 10.1093/fampra/cmag054
DO - 10.1093/fampra/cmag054
M3 - Review article
C2 - 42536797
AN - SCOPUS:105046053197
SN - 0263-2136
VL - 43
JO - Family Practice
JF - Family Practice
IS - 5
M1 - cmag054
ER -