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Pre-pandemic activity on a myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome support forum is highly associated with later activity on a long COVID support forum for a variety of reasons: a mixed methods study.

Meyerson, W. U.; Hoyle, R. H.

2023-07-01 infectious diseases
10.1101/2023.06.30.23292087 medRxiv
Show abstract

Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID share some clinical and social characteristics. We predicted that this would lead to an increased interaction between pre-pandemic members of an ME/CFS online support community and a long COVID community. We performed a mixed-methods retrospective observational study of the Reddit activity of 7,544 users active on Reddits long COVID forum. From among 1600 forums, pre-pandemic activity specifically on a ME/CFS forum is the top predictor of later participation on the long COVID forum versus an acute COVID support forum. In the qualitative portion, motives for this co-participation included seeking mutual support and dual identification with both conditions. Some of this effect may be explained by pre-existing ME/CFS possibly being a risk factor for long COVID and/or SARS-CoV-2 infection being a cause of ME/CFS relapse. The high rate of ME/CFS patients seeking mutual support on a long COVID forum speaks to the longsuffering experience of these patients not feeling heard or respected, and the hope of some ME/CFS patients to gain legitimacy through the publics growing recognition of long COVID.

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