1. " People don't have the answers ": A qualitative exploration of the experiences of young people with Long COVID.
- Author
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Newlands F, Lewis C, d'Oelsnitz A, Pinto Pereira SM, Stephenson T, Chalder T, Coughtrey A, Dalrymple E, Heyman I, Harnden A, Ford T, Ladhani SN, Powell C, McOwat K, Bhopal R, Dudley J, Kolasinska P, Muhid MZ, Nugawela M, Rojas NK, Shittu A, Simmons R, and Shafran R
- Subjects
- Humans, Adolescent, Female, Male, Young Adult, Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome, Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Health Services Accessibility, COVID-19 psychology, Qualitative Research
- Abstract
Young people living with Long COVID are learning to navigate life with a constellation of poorly understood symptoms. Most qualitative studies on experiences living with Long COVID focus on adult populations. This study aimed to understand the experiences of young people living with Long COVID. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted ( n = 16); 11 young people (aged 13-19) and five parents were recruited from the Children and Young People with Long COVID (CLoCk) study ( n = 11) or its patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) group ( n = 5). Thematic analysis generated four themes: (i) Unravelling Long COVID: Exploring Symptom Journeys and Diagnostic Dilemmas; (ii) Identity Disruption and Adjustment; (iii) Long COVID's Ripple Effect: the impact on Mental Health, Connections, and Education; and (iv) Navigating Long COVID: barriers to support and accessing services. Treatment options were perceived as not widely available or ineffective, emphasising the need for viable and accessible interventions for young people living with Long COVID., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Terence Stephenson is Chair of the Health Research Authority and therefore recused himself from the Research Ethics Application. Trudie Chalder acknowledges the financial support of the Department of Health via the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Specialist Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health award to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London. Tamsin Ford’s research group receives funding from Place2Be for research methods consultancy. All remaining authors have no conflicts of interest.
- Published
- 2024
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