Patients’ Experiences With Therapeutic Approaches for Post-COVID Syndrome: Results of a Crowdsourced Research Survey

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Therapeutic Approaches Used by Patients With Post-COVID Syndrome and Their Perceived Effectiveness (N = 499)

Therapeutic Approach	Patients Mentioning Approach, No.	Patients Rating Approach, No.	No. (%) of Ratings Good/Very Good^{^a}
Nutritional supplements (eg, vitamins B, C, D)	267	54	15 (27.3)
Sports/exercise	142	68	23 (33.8)
Mind-body medicine (eg, yoga, tai chi)	114	38	22 (57.9)
Rest	74	42	20 (47.6)
Cortisone/corticosteroids (inhaled, oral, or topical)	73	43	17 (39.5)
Other medications (eg, β-blockers, cold remedies)	70	31	17 (54.8)
Physiotherapy	70	31	15 (48.4)
Pain medication	56	26	7 (26.9)
Phytotherapy/herbal medication	53	18	9 (50.0)
Respiratory therapy	52	26	18 (69.2)
Rehabilitation	51	23	12 (52.2)
Medical consultation	45	13	3 (23.1)
Manual medicine	42	26	12 (46.2)
Psychotherapy	36	21	10 (47.6)
Inhalants (noncortisone)	35	13	8 (61.5)
Other (eg, mouthwash, singing)	32	17	8 (47.1)
Dietary change	31	14	7 (50.0)
Other physical therapy (eg, thermotherapy, contrast bath therapy)	29	9	5 (55.6)
Occupational therapy	27	14	6 (42.9)
Homeopathy	26	16	4 (25.0)
Memory training/concentration exercises	26	14	4 (28.6)
Olfactory training	26	20	3 (15.0)
CIM generally, other CIM approaches (eg, neural therapy, Ayurveda)	23	12	6 (50.0)
Acupuncture/acupressure	22	9	4 (44.4)
Psychotropic drugs	15	7	2 (28.6)
Traditional Chinese medicine/pharmacotherapy	13	4	0 (0.0)
Massage	12	6	2 (33.3)
Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2	9	8	7 (87.5)
Aromatherapy	9	3	2 (66.7)
Speech therapy	8	6	3 (50.0)

CIM = complementary and integrative medicine.
Notes: Therapeutic approaches are sorted in descending order according to how many patients mentioned them (first column). Multiple responses were possible. Bold denotes therapeutic approaches for which more than 50% of ratings were very good or good.
↵a Rating of 4 or 5 on the 5-point Likert scale.

Table 2.

Expressed Needs of Patients With Post-COVID Syndrome (N = 432)

Need	Patients Mentioning Need, % (No.)
More support/understanding/recognition	34.7 (232)
More (specific) therapies	20.2 (135)
More contact points/prompt appointments	16.5 (110)
Better information	7.6 (51)
Rehabilitation	5.5 (37)
More research	3.9 (26)
Exchange with other people affected	2.7 (18)
Better cost coverage by health insurances	2.7 (18)
Holistic therapies	1.6 (11)
Other	6.9 (30)