Long-term health sequelae and quality of life at least 6 months after infection with SARS-CoV-2: design and rationale of the COVIDOM-study as part of the NAPKON population-based cohort platform (POP)

A Horn; L Krist; W Lieb; F A Montellano; M Kohls; K Haas; G Gelbrich; S J Bolay-Gehrig; C Morbach; J P Reese; S Störk; J Fricke; T Zoller; S Schmidt; P Triller; L Kretzler; M Rönnefarth; C Von Kalle; S N Willich; F Kurth; F Steinbeis; M Witzenrath; T Bahmer; A Hermes; M Krawczak; L Reinke; C Maetzler; J Franzenburg; J Enderle; A Flinspach; J Vehreschild; M Schons; T Illig; G Anton; K Ungethüm; B C Finkenberg; M T Gehrig; N Savaskan; P U Heuschmann; T Keil; S Schreiber

doi:10.1007/s15010-021-01707-5

Long-term health sequelae and quality of life at least 6 months after infection with SARS-CoV-2: design and rationale of the COVIDOM-study as part of the NAPKON population-based cohort platform (POP)

Infection. 2021 Dec;49(6):1277-1287. doi: 10.1007/s15010-021-01707-5. Epub 2021 Oct 12.

Authors

A Horn^#¹, L Krist^#², W Lieb^#³, F A Montellano^{1

4}, M Kohls¹, K Haas¹, G Gelbrich¹, S J Bolay-Gehrig¹, C Morbach^{5

6}, J P Reese¹, S Störk^{5

6}, J Fricke², T Zoller^{7

8}, S Schmidt⁹, P Triller⁹, L Kretzler⁹, M Rönnefarth⁹, C Von Kalle⁹, S N Willich², F Kurth^{7

10}, F Steinbeis⁷, M Witzenrath^{7

11}, T Bahmer^{12

13}, A Hermes³, M Krawczak¹⁴, L Reinke¹², C Maetzler¹⁵, J Franzenburg^{16

17}, J Enderle³, A Flinspach¹², J Vehreschild^{18

19

20}, M Schons²⁰, T Illig²¹, G Anton^{22

23}, K Ungethüm¹, B C Finkenberg²⁴, M T Gehrig²⁵, N Savaskan²⁶, P U Heuschmann^#^{27

28}, T Keil^#^{1

2

29}, S Schreiber^#³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Wurzburg, Germany.
² Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³ Institute of Epidemiology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
⁴ Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, Wurzburg, Germany.
⁵ Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University and University Hospital Würzburg, Wurzburg, Germany.
⁶ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine I, University Hospital Würzburg, Wurzburg, Germany.
⁷ Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
⁹ Clinical Trial Unit, Clinical Study Center, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Tropical Medicine, Department of Medicine I, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
¹¹ German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Berlin, Germany.
¹² Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, 24105, Kiel, Germany.
¹³ German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Airways Research Center North (ARCN), Kiel, Germany.
¹⁴ Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
¹⁵ Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
¹⁶ Institute for Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
¹⁷ Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
¹⁸ Medical Department 2, Hematology/Oncology and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
¹⁹ German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
²⁰ Department I for Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
²¹ Hannover Medical School, Hannover Unified Biobank, Hannover, Germany.
²² Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich, Munich, Germany.
²³ German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Munich, Munich, Germany.
²⁴ Department of Public Health, District Office Würzburg, Wurzburg, Germany.
²⁵ Department of Public Health, District Office Schweinfurt, Schweinfurt, Germany.
²⁶ Department of Public Health, District Office Berlin-Neukölln, Berlin, Germany.
²⁷ Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Wurzburg, Germany. [email protected].
²⁸ Clinical Trial Center Würzburg, University Hospital Würzburg, Wurzburg, Germany. [email protected].
²⁹ State Institute of Health, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Bad Kissingen, Germany.
³⁰ Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, 24105, Kiel, Germany. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: Over the course of COVID-19 pandemic, evidence has accumulated that SARS-CoV-2 infections may affect multiple organs and have serious clinical sequelae, but on-site clinical examinations with non-hospitalized samples are rare. We, therefore, aimed to systematically assess the long-term health status of samples of hospitalized and non-hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from three regions in Germany.

Methods: The present paper describes the COVIDOM-study within the population-based cohort platform (POP) which has been established under the auspices of the NAPKON infrastructure (German National Pandemic Cohort Network) of the national Network University Medicine (NUM). Comprehensive health assessments among SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals are conducted at least 6 months after the acute infection at the study sites Kiel, Würzburg and Berlin. Potential participants were identified and contacted via the local public health authorities, irrespective of the severity of the initial infection. A harmonized examination protocol has been implemented, consisting of detailed assessments of medical history, physical examinations, and the collection of multiple biosamples (e.g., serum, plasma, saliva, urine) for future analyses. In addition, patient-reported perception of the impact of local pandemic-related measures and infection on quality-of-life are obtained.

Results: As of July 2021, in total 6813 individuals infected in 2020 have been invited into the COVIDOM-study. Of these, about 36% wished to participate and 1295 have already been examined at least once.

Conclusion: NAPKON-POP COVIDOM-study complements other Long COVID studies assessing the long-term consequences of an infection with SARS-CoV-2 by providing detailed health data of population-based samples, including individuals with various degrees of disease severity.

Trial registration: Registered at the German registry for clinical studies (DRKS00023742).

Keywords: Internal medicine; Long COVID; Neurological; On-site examination; Population-based; Sars-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / complications
Humans
Pandemics
Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
Quality of Life*
SARS-CoV-2
Treatment Outcome

Associated data

DRKS/DRKS00023742

Grants and funding

01KX2021/bundesministerium für bildung und forschung