How do people with long COVID utilize COVID-19 vaccination and rehabilitation services and what are their experiences with these services? results of a qualitative study with 48 participants from Germany

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Abstract

Background

Studies estimate that at least 7.5% of adults are affected by long-term symptoms such as fatigue or cognitive impairment after the acute phase of COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccination may reduce the risk of long COVID. Rehabilitation can have a positive impact on recovery. This study aims to present the experiences of people with long COVID with COVID-19 vaccination and rehabilitation. Such research is important because perceptions of these measures can impact healthcare utilization and health status.

Methods

48 adults with long COVID participated in this qualitative study, 25 of them in one-on-one interviews and 23 in focus groups. Participants were recruited via calls for participation on the websites and social media channels of two university hospitals and with the help of respondents’ networks. The conversations were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Subsequently, the results were compared, interpreted, and discussed by scientific literature.

Results

35 study participants reported that they had received a COVID-19 vaccination and 16 of them stated that they had utilized a rehabilitation service. These participants had varying experiences with COVID-19 vaccination and rehabilitation. Nine of them stated that they developed long COVID despite vaccination before COVID-19. Ten participants reported vaccine reactions, and two participants reported severe side effects. Two participants reported persistent deterioration of their long COVID symptoms after vaccination. This led to uncertainty about the safety, benefits, and handling of COVID-19 vaccination. However, most participants perceived the vaccine as effective regarding milder COVID-19 sequelae. Four participants felt their rehabilitation was helpful and four participants felt it was unhelpful. Two persons found the combination of inpatient rehabilitation and rehabilitation sport helpful.

Conclusions

Several implications can be derived from this study: (1) researchers should explore the effects of COVID-19 vaccination on long COVID symptoms; (2) vaccination campaigns should be more responsive to the perspectives of people with long COVID on vaccination; (3) care planners should build rehabilitation facilities specialized in long COVID; (4) rehabilitation providers should train their professionals regarding long COVID and develop rehabilitation programs tailored to different clinical pictures.

Trial registration

German register for clinical trials DRKS00026007, 09 September 2021.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-024-18380-6.

Related collections

Most cited references 40

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Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups.

A Tong, P SAINSBURY, J. Craig (2007)

Qualitative research explores complex phenomena encountered by clinicians, health care providers, policy makers and consumers. Although partial checklists are available, no consolidated reporting framework exists for any type of qualitative design. To develop a checklist for explicit and comprehensive reporting of qualitative studies (in depth interviews and focus groups). We performed a comprehensive search in Cochrane and Campbell Protocols, Medline, CINAHL, systematic reviews of qualitative studies, author or reviewer guidelines of major medical journals and reference lists of relevant publications for existing checklists used to assess qualitative studies. Seventy-six items from 22 checklists were compiled into a comprehensive list. All items were grouped into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. Duplicate items and those that were ambiguous, too broadly defined and impractical to assess were removed. Items most frequently included in the checklists related to sampling method, setting for data collection, method of data collection, respondent validation of findings, method of recording data, description of the derivation of themes and inclusion of supporting quotations. We grouped all items into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. The criteria included in COREQ, a 32-item checklist, can help researchers to report important aspects of the research team, study methods, context of the study, findings, analysis and interpretations.

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Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome

Ani Nalbandian, Kartik Sehgal, Aakriti Gupta … (2021)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the pathogen responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has resulted in global healthcare crises and strained health resources. As the population of patients recovering from COVID-19 grows, it is paramount to establish an understanding of the healthcare issues surrounding them. COVID-19 is now recognized as a multi-organ disease with a broad spectrum of manifestations. Similarly to post-acute viral syndromes described in survivors of other virulent coronavirus epidemics, there are increasing reports of persistent and prolonged effects after acute COVID-19. Patient advocacy groups, many members of which identify themselves as long haulers, have helped contribute to the recognition of post-acute COVID-19, a syndrome characterized by persistent symptoms and/or delayed or long-term complications beyond 4 weeks from the onset of symptoms. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the current literature on post-acute COVID-19, its pathophysiology and its organ-specific sequelae. Finally, we discuss relevant considerations for the multidisciplinary care of COVID-19 survivors and propose a framework for the identification of those at high risk for post-acute COVID-19 and their coordinated management through dedicated COVID-19 clinics.

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Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-19

Amiel Dror, Netanel Eisenbach, Shahar Taiber … (2020)

Vaccine hesitancy remains a barrier to full population inoculation against highly infectious diseases. Coincident with the rapid developments of COVID-19 vaccines globally, concerns about the safety of such a vaccine could contribute to vaccine hesitancy. We analyzed 1941 anonymous questionnaires completed by healthcare workers and members of the general Israeli population, regarding acceptance of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Our results indicate that healthcare staff involved in the care of COVID-19 positive patients, and individuals considering themselves at risk of disease, were more likely to self-report acquiescence to COVID-19 vaccination if and when available. In contrast, parents, nurses, and medical workers not caring for SARS-CoV-2 positive patients expressed higher levels of vaccine hesitancy. Interventional educational campaigns targeted towards populations at risk of vaccine hesitancy are therefore urgently needed to combat misinformation and avoid low inoculation rates.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Tim Schmachtenberg: tim.schmachtenberg@med.uni-goettingen.de

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Public Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Public Health

Title: BMC Public Health

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2458

Publication date (Electronic): 28 March 2024

Publication date PMC-release: 28 March 2024

Publication date Collection: 2024

Volume: 24

Electronic Location Identifier: 915

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Göttingen, ( https://ror.org/021ft0n22) Humboldtallee 38, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

[2 ]Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, ( https://ror.org/00f2yqf98) Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany

[3 ]Department of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Bielefeld, Interaktion 1, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany

[4 ]Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, ( https://ror.org/05hs6h993) 15 Michigan St NE, Grand Rapids, 49503 East Lansing, MI USA

Article

Publisher ID: 18380

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-18380-6

PMC ID: 10976759

PubMed ID: 38549052

SO-VID: b7298721-8a9c-48d8-91a6-9be5b293afa9

License:

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

History

Date received : 9 October 2023

Date accepted : 18 March 2024

Funding

Funded by: Herzzentrum Göttingen (1018)

Open Access :

Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Custom metadata

ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

Keywords: long covid,sars-cov-2,covid-19 vaccination,rehabilitation,germany,qualitative study

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

Keywords: long covid, sars-cov-2, covid-19 vaccination, rehabilitation, germany, qualitative study

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How do people with long COVID utilize COVID-19 vaccination and rehabilitation services and what are their experiences with these services? results of a qualitative study with 48 participants from Germany

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Abstract

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Supplementary Information

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 40

Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups.

Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome

Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-19

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