Long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome: A survey of elderly female survivors in Egypt

Objectives This study aimed to investigate post‐COVID‐19 symptoms amongst elderly females and whether they could be a risk factor for developing chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) later on. Methods This was a retrospective cross‐sectional study, in the form of an online survey. A total of 115 responses were finally included. Results The mean age was 73.18 ± 6.42. Eighty‐nine reported symptoms in the post‐recovery period; of these 54 had no symptoms of CFS, 60 were possible, and only 1 was probable. Fatigue was reported by 66, musculoskeletal symptoms by 56, and sleep problems by 73. Twenty‐nine patients visited a doctor's office as a result. Post‐recovery symptoms were significantly related to stress, sadness and sleep disturbances. Also, stress, sadness, sleep disturbances, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and recurrent falls were all significantly associated with CFS‐like symptoms. Conclusions From our findings, the presence of fatigue, cognitive impairment, stress, sadness, sleep disturbances and recurrent falls in the post‐recovery period were all significantly associated with CFS‐like symptoms. To conclude it would be reasonable to screen for long COVID and consider the potential for developing CFS later on. Whether it can be a risk factor for developing CFS‐like other viral infections will need more larger scale studies to confirm this.