Post COVID-19 Condition in adults: results from a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND: Post COVID-19 Condition (PCC) in adults, as defined by the WHO, is a newly discovered syndrome consisting of symptoms persisting for at least two months and arising usually three months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among the over 200 symptoms reported, the most common ones (fatigue, dyspnoea, cognitive dysfunction) significantly affect everyday life. PCC is an urgent and complex public health issue; therefore, we aimed at estimating the impact of published studies on the matter through a bibliometric analysis. METHODS: Pertinent papers on adult PCC were retrieved from three databases (PubMed, Scopus and WebOfScience), according to eligibility criteria based on a Population-Intervention-Context-Outcome (PICO) model. The relevant Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and non-MeSH search terms regarding PCC in adults were combined in a Boolean search string. A bibliometric analysis of the collected studies was conducted, consisting of citation counts and a linear regression analysis to investigate the research trends. The dependent variable was the number of articles per year. RESULTS: According to our inclusion criteria, 1975 papers were screened. Twenty-seven percent of the studies were published in European countries, 48% in Asia and 25% in America. Preliminary results on the pattern of publications from 2020 to 2023 show an increase by 14% [(CI 95%) 10%-17%] from 2020 to 2021, by 17% [(CI 95%) 13%-20%] from 2021 to 2022, and by 22% [(CI 95%) 19%-25%] from 2022 to 2023 as of January. CONCLUSIONS: An increasing number of individuals are reportedly suffering from ongoing PCC, and research trends are escalating accordingly. Implementing appropriate care pathways and management should rely on extensive and updated knowledge on the clinical, social and organizational challenges of PCC; thus, our research aimed at partially broadening the literature, although further research is required and should focus on investigating the complexity of PCC symptoms and impact. KEY MESSAGES: • Post COVID-19 Condition is a complex and still partially explored syndrome. • Public health policies should rely on robust and vast scientific literature.