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Public health agencies in San Francisco are on a mission to better understand long COVID, and they need your help.
“Aside from the devastating impact COVID has had on societally marginalized communities, we have no idea what the long-term consequences will be,” said Kim Rhoads, MD, MPH, from the UC San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
UCSF is partnering with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and San Mateo County Health (SMC Health) for a new research project titled – Let’s Figure Out Long COVID – Tell Us Your Story.
“The project will help us get a better handle on how many people are affected by long COVID, and how we might intervene to reduce the additional burden the disease will likely place on communities of color,” added Rhoads, the study’s community engagement co-lead.
Long COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-COv-2 (PASC), refers to both physical and mental health symptoms that last long after an initial infection.
Those symptoms may start during infection and never go away or may appear weeks or months afterward. Common complaints include fatigue, shortness of breath, pain, problems with concentration, depression and anxiety.
A two-phased approach
In Phase I of the project, researchers will call San Francisco and San Mateo County adult residents who had COVID-19 at least three months ago. Whether they have fully recovered or still have symptoms, their experiences will inform researchers about the frequency of long COVID-19.
In Phase II, some people who were previously interviewed will be asked to join a more detailed research study sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. This study, called RECOVER (Researching COVID-19 to Enhance Recovery), will last three to four years. Study participants will be compensated for their time.
The goals of the project are to learn how common long COVID-19 is in the community – information that is critical in impacting funding for local health departments and services for those debilitated by the condition – as well as to learn what causes it and how to prevent and treat it.
Minority populations ‘Need to have their stories heard’
“Through our patient care and work in the community, we have seen firsthand the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on Latino and Black communities in the Bay Area,” said Carina Marquez, MD, of the UCSF Department of Medicine and the study’s community engagement co-lead. “Ensuring representation and equity in the community is fundamental to this study.”
All ethnic groups and neighborhoods will be represented, and researchers are especially interested in hearing from Black/African American, Latino, Pacific Islander and Native American communities who have experienced higher rates of infections, hospitalizations and deaths than other groups.
Community organizations will assist in ensuring that input from the community accurately reflects those ethnic groups and neighborhoods where COVID-19 has been most prevalent.
“We know that communities have concerns about the effects of long COVID-19, and we still have a lot to learn about this condition,” said Susan Philip, MD, San Francisco’s Health Officer.
“This is why it is vital that we make progress in studying long COVID-19 in communities of color that have been most impacted by COVID-19. We need to know how we can best treat it, to inform how we can provide a targeted public health approach toward supporting communities where it is needed most,” she said.
For additional information, please see the Let’s Figure Out Long COVID website or email a representative: FiguringOutLongCOVID@ucsf.edu.
