Publication date: Dec 21, 2025
Objective: The objective was to estimate unique patterns of change in fatigue in people with the Post-Covid Syndrome (PCS) over 15 months. Design/Subjects: The Quebec Action for Post-COVID (QAPC) study was a prospective study designed to provide a patient-centered understanding of symptoms, function, and quality of life in a self-identified Quebec sample. Methods: Participants were queried every 3 months about symptoms and function. Fatigue was measured with the 10-item Post-COVID Syndrome Fatigue Severity Measure with a transformed score ranging from 0 no fatigue to 100 extreme fatigue. Group Based Trajectory Analysis (GBTA) was used to identify patterns of longitudinal change. Results: 545 people had an average value of fatigue at baseline of 62.2 / 100 (SD: 21.6); 25% of the cohort had 5 visits. Six trajectories of individual change emerged: two groups with the highest fatigue showed persistence over time; a small group with high fatigue showed improvement; two groups with average fatigue showed improvement over time; and the group with low fatigue showed no emergence of this symptom, Conclusion High fatigue seems to persist over time while less severe fatigue abates. High fatigue may indicate a sub-syndrome within PCS similar to chronic fatigue syndrome.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Canada | Average |
| Clinical | Change |
| December | Covid |
| Peas | Fatigue |
| Group | |
| Groups | |
| High | |
| Medrxiv | |
| Months | |
| Pcs | |
| Post | |
| Preprint | |
| Showed | |
| Syndrome | |
| Trajectories |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | Fatigue |
| disease | MESH | Syndrome |
| disease | MESH | PCS |
| disease | MESH | chronic fatigue syndrome |
| disease | MESH | MD1 |
| disease | MESH | infection |
| disease | MESH | COVID 19 |
| disease | MESH | included |
| disease | MESH | AIC |
| disease | MESH | Long Covid |