What are the recommendations for returning athletes who have experienced long term COVID-19 symptoms?

Lindsay, Rosie, Wilson, Jason, Trott, Mike, Olanrewaju, Olawale, Tully, Mark A., López-Sánchez, Guillermo F., Shin, Jae Il, Pizzol, Damiano, Allen, Peter M., Butler, Laurie T., Barnett, Yvonne A. and Smith, Lee (2021) What are the recommendations for returning athletes who have experienced long term COVID-19 symptoms? Annals of Medicine, 53 (1). pp. 1935-1944. ISSN 1365-2060

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Abstract

Currently, there is limited research reporting the symptoms of long COVID among athletes, and the recommendations for athletes returning to competition/training who have experienced long COVID symptoms. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to synthesise the recommendations for returning athletes who have experienced long COVID symptoms. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO under CRD42021265939. Two authors searched the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and SPORTDiscus from August 2019-July 2021. Search terms included words related to “long COVID”, “athlete” and “return”. Data extraction was completed for each study by two independent investigators for: (1) first author name; (2) year of publication; (3) journal; (4) Definition of athlete (i.e. elite or non-elite) (5) Recommendations reported. A total of 220 records were found. Following title and abstract screening, 61 studies were eligible for full text screening. Overall, no studies, commentaries, editorials or reviews provided specific recommendations for “long COVID” defined as COVID-19 signs and symptoms lasting for over 4 weeks as a result of COVID-19 infection. In addition, we found no studies which reported symptoms of athletes suffering from long COVID. Despite the lack of evidence, we did find eight separate professional recommendations for managing “long-term effects” and “ongoing” or “prolonged” symptoms and COVID-19 complications among athletes. Practitioners should be aware of both mental and physical symptoms of long COVID, and additional considerations may be required for athletes who have undergone intensive care. The present review provides a list of recommendations based on existing literature that may be followed and implemented for returning athletes.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Keywords:	COVID-19, long COVID, return to sport, systematic review, athletes, physical activity, rehabilitation, return to play, recommendations
Faculty:	COVID-19 Research Collection Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine & Social Care Faculty of Science & Engineering
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic User
Depositing User:	Symplectic User
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2021 11:43
Last Modified:	07 Jun 2022 15:31
URI:	https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/707011

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