Publication date: Jun 22, 2026
Long-term effect of COVID-19 (Long COVID) may persist for months or years after SARS-CoV-2 infection, but longer-term cardiopulmonary manifestations have not been previously reported. The objective of the study was to characterize cardiopulmonary function after SARS-CoV-2 infection in a digital health substudy of the nationwide Researching COVID-19 to Enhance Recovery Adult Cohort Study. Associations between wearable sensor device measures of cardiopulmonary fitness and survey-derived Long COVID symptoms were estimated over a 6-month window at least 6 months after infection using linear regression models adjusted for wear time, age, sex, race/ethnicity, and body mass index. Among 1,475 participants (72% female, 65% non-Hispanic White) a median of 21 months (IQR: 15-31 months) after infection, 498 (34%) had high symptom burden as characterized by the Researching COVID-19 to Enhance Recovery Long COVID Research Index (LCRI). High LCRI (vs low LCRI) was associated with significantly lower heart rate variability (-4. 4 ms; 95% CI: -6. 5 to -2. 4; P
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Disease | digital health |
| Fitness | heart rate variability |
| Hispanic | long COVID |
| physical activity | |
| wearables |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | Long COVID |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| pathway | REACTOME | SARS-CoV-2 Infection |
| disease | MESH | infection |
| disease | MESH | cardiovascular disease |