LOCOMOTION November/December 2023 Newsletter
LOCOMOTION study recruitment reached 2,805 participants in December 2023!
News
No-Cost Extension
The funder of the LOCOMOTION study, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), have granted the study team a 6-month no-cost extension. This means that the study will now end on 30th June 2024.
This additional time will primarily be used for finalising the analysis of data collected in the study, writing publications detailing the study findings, and disseminating these findings to healthcare professionals, participants, patients, and the public. The extension will mean that Patient and Public Involvement can be maintained throughout this period.
LOCOMOTION Public Webinars
LOCOMOTION is planning to host free public webinars in 2024, to share the findings from our study and give people the opportunity to ask questions! The webinar will be open to anyone interested in hearing about our study's findings. Whether you are a healthcare professional, a manager in a Long COVID service, a person with Long COVID, a friend or family member of someone with Long COVID, or if you just have an interest in Long COVID, you are welcome to join!
People can register on our webinar website page to be contacted with details about the webinars when they are arranged.
Using healthcare records to understand Long COVID diagnosis and treatments
Members of the LOCOMOTION study team have written a blog about how healthcare records are helping us understand Long COVID diagnosis and treatments. The blog details:
- What this aspect of the study is researching.
- What data they are using. 💻
- How well Long COVID is recorded in medical records. 🗂️
- How else we can identify who may have Long COVID. 🔎
- How Long COVID relates to other medical conditions.
- How joined up hospital care is for patients with Long COVID. 🏥
Clinical Post COVID Society
NHS England and the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (BSPRM) are forming a new sub-society, the Clinical Post COVID Society.
The Society will be led by a multidisciplinary Clinical Leadership Group that includes Dr Manoj Sivan (Chief Investigator of LOCOMOTION).
They are in the process of completing the membership of this multidisciplinary team. Applications are currently open for the following roles: Primary Care – GP, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, Psychologist, and Post COVID service expert. (Closing date: Friday 5th January 2024)
LOCOMOTION Publications
Prevalence of orthostatic intolerance in Long Covid clinic patients
NHS sites in our study have been using the NASA Lean Test to test the prevalence of orthostatic intolerance (OI) on standing in Long COVID patients. OI is a type of autonomic dysfunction in which people experience symptoms (such as dizziness, blurred visions, and palpitations) when they stand up that are associated with a fast heart rate and/or a drop in blood pressure.
Data from this testing has been analysed, and the findings have been written up in a publication titled ‘Prevalence of orthostatic intolerance in Long Covid clinic patients: A multicentre observational study’. This has been submitted to a scientific journal for peer review, but it is currently available to read as a pre-print. Click here to view it.
Pre-prints are scientific articles that have not yet been peer reviewed, but have been shared while under review for publication, to accelerate the scientific process and make (non-reviewed) outputs available to the scientific community more quickly.
The results of the testing were that more than half of Long COVID patients experienced OI symptoms during the NASA Lean Test and more than one in ten patients met the criteria for either postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) or orthostatic hypotension (OH), half of whom did not report previous typical OI symptoms. The recommendation from the publication is that all patients attending Long COVID clinics are offered a NASA Lean Test and appropriate management commenced.
Long Covid Clinical Severity Types Based on Symptoms and Functional Disability
A pre-print is also available for another one of our publications which is currently under peer review. Click here to view ‘Long Covid Clinical Severity Types Based on Symptoms and Functional Disability: A Longitudinal Evaluation’.
It explores the consistency of Long COVID clinical severity types over time, and the relationship between Symptom Severity (SS), Functional Disability (FD), and Overall Health (OH) in the context of the clinical severity types in a prospective sample.
The results of the paper revealed three distinct SS and FD clinical severity types – mild, moderate, and severe – with no distinct symptom phenotypes. This three-level clinical severity pattern remained consistent over time between two assessment timepoints.
Impact of Long COVID on productivity and informal caregiving
A scientific publication from the LOCOMOTION study, assessing the ‘Impact of Long COVID on productivity and informal caregiving’, has been accepted in The European Journal of Health Economics. This paper will soon be published and available to read!
LOCOMOTION Team
New role for LOCOMOTION Project Manager
Thomas Osborne, Project Manager of the LOCOMOTION study, has been appointed Programme Manager of the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR). However, we’re pleased that he will be able to retain his role as our Project Manager in a reduced capacity until the end of the study.
Award for Patient Advisory Group Co-Lead
Dr Clare Rayner, Co-Lead of our Patient Advisory Group, was joint winner of the Society of Occupational Medicine award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Occupational Health Globally 2023.
She was awarded this for her pivotal leadership role in ensuring best practice guidance has been available to stakeholders on supporting workers with Long COVID to return to work since 2020. Part of which has been through Clare’s dedicated work on the LOCOMOTION study.
Read more, in the SOM Awards Pack, about Clare (page 9) and the other award winners.
Publications from members of the LOCOMOTION team
Development of the C19-YRS PROM Platform
A new publication, authored by members of the LOCOMOTION team, details the development of the Long COVID specific digital Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) platform which is used in the LOCOMOTION study.
The publication outlines the features of the platform and how it was developed with the input of clinicians and people with Long COVID, ensuring that it met user needs and the requirements of service providers and commissioners.
Does timely vaccination help prevent post-viral conditions
Dr Manoj Sivan (LOCOMOTION Chief Investigator) has written an editorial in the BMJ regarding whether timely vaccination helps prevent post-viral conditions, such as Long COVID.
The editorial lays out evidence from scientific publications that show those with COVID-19 vaccination before acute infection were less likely to develop post-COVID-19 condition (Long COVID), with a dose-response relationship also being evident. In addition to outlining the possible mechanism for this association, the editorial also discusses how this evidence should be used to inform future pandemic preparedness plans.
