Confirmation of COVID-19 infection status and reporting of Long COVID symptoms in a population-based birth cohort: No evidence of a nocebo effect

Some patients with COVID-19 develop symptoms after the acute infection, known as ‘Long COVID’. We examined whether or not confirmation of COVID-19 infection status could act as a nocebo, using data from questionnaires distributed to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. We exam...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health psychology 2024-05, Vol.29 (6), p.581-594
Main Authors: Macleod-Hall, Catherine IA, Munafò, Marcus R, Dyer, Maddy L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Birth Cohort
COVID-19
COVID-19 - psychology
Female
Full Length
Humans
Infections
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Moderation
Moderators
Nocebo Effect
Physical symptoms
Placebo effect
Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
Psychological problems
SARS-CoV-2
Surveys and Questionnaires
Symptoms
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Some patients with COVID-19 develop symptoms after the acute infection, known as ‘Long COVID’. We examined whether or not confirmation of COVID-19 infection status could act as a nocebo, using data from questionnaires distributed to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. We examined associations between confirmation of COVID-19 infection status (confirmed by a positive test vs unconfirmed) and reporting of Long COVID symptoms. We explored the roles of sex and anxiety as potential moderators. There was no clear evidence of a strong association between confirmation of COVID-19 infection status and the Long COVID composite score, physical or psychological symptoms or duration of symptoms. There was no clear evidence of moderation by sex or anxiety. We therefore found no evidence of a nocebo effect. Our data suggest that this psychological mechanism does not play a role in the medical symptomatology experienced by patients with Long COVID.
ISSN:1359-1053
1461-7277
DOI:10.1177/13591053241228711