Long COVID‐19: A Concept Analysis

In late 2019, a respiratory syndrome caused by an unknown virus led to a worldwide pandemic.  The virus was identified and named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and ‘coronavirus disease 2019’ (COVID-19).  Many individuals (up to 33%) after recovery from COVID-19 complained of unexplained symptoms involving multiple organ systems and were diagnosed as having Long COVID-19 (LC-19). Currently, LC-19 is inadequately defined, requiring the formation of consistent diagnostic parameters to provide a foundation for ongoing and future studies of epidemiology, risk factors, clinical characteristics, and therapy. LC-19 represents a significant burden on multiple levels due to the vast number of people affected and the limitations the disease causes in daily life. The reduced ability of workers to return or compromised work efficiency has led to consequences felt at national economic and societal levels by increased dependence on community services. On a personal scale, the isolation and helplessness caused by the disease and its subsequent impact on the patient’s mental health and quality of life are immeasurable. In this paper, we used Walker and Avants’ eight-step approach to perform a concept analysis of the term “Long COVID-19” and define its impact across these parameters.