{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:51:32Z","timestamp":1792792292225,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,16]],"date-time":"2023-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1676505600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Long-term health consequences of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), also known as \u201clong COVID,\u201d has become a global health concern. In this systematic review, we aimed to synthesize the qualitative evidence on lived experiences of people living with long COVID that may inform health policymaking and practice.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We searched six major databases and additional sources and systematically retrieved relevant qualitative studies and conducted a meta-synthesis of key findings using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines and reporting standards of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) checklist.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We found 15 articles representing 12 studies out of 619 citations from different sources. These studies provided 133 findings that were categorized into 55 categories. All categories were aggregated to the following synthesized findings: living with complex physical health problems, psychosocial crises of long COVID, slow recovery and rehabilitation, digital resources and information management, changes in social support, and experiences with healthcare providers, services, and systems. Ten studies were from the UK, and others were from Denmark and Italy, which highlights a critical lack of evidence from other countries.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>More representative research is needed to understand long COVID-related experiences from diverse communities and populations. The available evidence informs a high burden of biopsychosocial challenges among people with long COVID that would require multilevel interventions such as strengthening health and social policies and services, engaging patients and caregivers in making decisions and developing resources, and addressing health and socioeconomic disparities associated with long COVID through evidence-based practice.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0281884","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,16]],"date-time":"2023-02-16T18:36:06Z","timestamp":1676572566000},"page":"e0281884","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":112,"title":["Living with \u201clong COVID\u201d: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7059-7768","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"M. Mahbub","family":"Hossain","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jyoti","family":"Das","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Farzana","family":"Rahman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fazilatun","family":"Nesa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4042-9824","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Puspita","family":"Hossain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"A. M. Khairul","family":"Islam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samia","family":"Tasnim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Farah","family":"Faizah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3787-3780","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Hoimonty","family":"Mazumder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Neetu","family":"Purohit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gilbert","family":"Ramirez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0281884.ref001","first-page":"1","article-title":"WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard With Vaccination Data | WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard With Vaccination Data","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2021","journal-title":"World Health Organization"},{"key":"pone.0281884.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23337214211034270","DOI":"10.1177\/23337214211034274","article-title":"The Biopsychosocial Impact of COVID-19 on Older Adults","volume":"7","author":"N Laher","year":"2021","journal-title":"Gerontol Geriatr Med"},{"key":"pone.0281884.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110171","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pnpbp.2020.110171","article-title":"COVID-19 pandemic impact on children and adolescents\u2019 mental health: Biological, environmental, and social factors","volume":"106","author":"CS de Figueiredo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacology Biol Psychiatry"},{"key":"pone.0281884.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.1097\/PSY.0000000000000954","article-title":"Biopsychosocial Processes of Health and Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic","volume":"83","author":"WJ Kop","year":"2021","journal-title":"Psychosom Med"},{"key":"pone.0281884.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100899","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2021.100899","article-title":"Characteristics and predictors of acute and chronic post-COVID syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"36","author":"FM Iqbal","year":"2021","journal-title":"EClinicalMedicine"},{"key":"pone.0281884.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1622","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cmi.2020.07.016","article-title":"Bacterial co-infection and secondary infection in patients with COVID-19: a living rapid review and meta-analysis","volume":"26","author":"BJ Langford","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin Microbiol Infect"},{"key":"pone.0281884.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1093\/ptj\/pzaa194","article-title":"Early Physical Therapist Interventions for Patients With COVID-19 in the Acute Care Hospital: A Case Report Series","volume":"101","author":"S Eggmann","year":"2021","journal-title":"Phys Ther"},{"key":"pone.0281884.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"285","DOI":"10.1007\/s15010-021-01696-5","article-title":"Long COVID: current definition","volume":"50","author":"C. 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