{
  "abstract": "Background Long COVID is a complex, multisystem chronic condition that may persist or fluctuate for months to years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite emerging international research, significant gaps remain in understanding the full breadth of long COVID’s impacts in Australia. No study has yet prospectively examined these multidimensional impacts using a culturally appropriate, user-validated toolkit. Our study aims to characterise symptom profiles, functional outcomes and psychological, social, financial and behavioural impacts of long COVID in Australian adults; identify factors associated with recovery trajectories; and validate a set of measures to support research and clinical care.Methods This national, multi-site, longitudinal prospective cohort study comprises three phases: (1) survey selection and user-testing; (2) psychometric validation; and (3) a longitudinal cohort study. Survey selection was informed by literature review, Australian parliament inquiry reports and international recommendations, and refined through iterative user-testing and expert review. A total of 1000 participants aged ≥18 years from diverse cultural backgrounds with ongoing symptoms following COVID-19 infection will be divided into three cohorts based on time since infection. Surveys will be administered at seven time points over 24 months, with optional follow-up to 36 months. Data linkage to state and national health datasets will enable an objective assessment of healthcare utilisation and associated costs. Psychometric properties of the tools will be evaluated using baseline responses from the initial 300 participants, including assessments of structural/construct validity, convergent validity, known-groups validity, cross-validity, internal reliability, responsiveness and test–retest reliability. Other data analyses will include descriptive statistics, repeated-measures analysis of variance, linear mixed-effects modelling and multivariable regression models.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was obtained from The St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) (112108/2024/PID00364) and RMIT University HREC (28124). Research findings will be disseminated at conferences and in peer-reviewed publications.Trial registration number Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12625001415493).",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Shiqi Luo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Zhen Zheng"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "School of Medicine and Healthcare Management, Caucasus University, Tbilisi, Georgia"
      ],
      "name": "Leila Karimi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "Accelerator for Translational Research and Clinical Trials (ATRACT) Centre, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Magdalena Plebanski"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University STEM College, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia",
        "School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University Faculty of Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Kate Louise McCann Anderson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia",
        "Social Equity Research Centre, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Natalie Jovanovski"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Chintha Lankatillake"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Wendell Cockshaw"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Dennis Wollersheim"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Jacob Sheahan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Emma-Louise Seal"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "School of Nursing, Paramedicine, and Healthcare Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Kerryn Butler-Henderson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Design and Discovery, Northern Health, Epping, Victoria, Australia",
        "School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, and Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Donald Campbell"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hands on Health Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia",
        "Eastern Maar Kirrae Whurrung Djap Wurrung, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "April Clarke"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Sonja Cleary"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Science, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Jessica Danaher"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Doa El-Ansary"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Economics, Finance & Marketing, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Bernardo Figueiredo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Katie L Flanagan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Claire Hines"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Victorian Centre for Virtual Health Research, Northern Health, Epping, Victoria, Australia",
        "School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Rebecca L Jessup"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia",
        "Victorian Centre for Virtual Health Research, Northern Health, Epping, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Hanife Mehmet"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, Northern Health, Epping, Victoria, Australia",
        "Department of Critical Care, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Suzanne M Miller"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre, College of Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia",
        "South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Marie-Claire Seeley"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Manoj Sivan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hands on Health Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Franca Smarrelli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Adam B Smith"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Accounting, Information Systems and Supply Chain, RMIT University College of Business and Law, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Gillian Vesty"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Dein Vindigni"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University STEM College, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Sophia Xenos"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Lived Experience Advisor, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Louisa Stocco"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Lived Experience Advisor, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Samantha Hartman"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Lived Experience Advisor, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Ilan Ivory"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "RMIT University STEM College, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Catherine Itsiopoulos"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Impact of long COVID on diverse Australian populations: a multi-site, longitudinal prospective cohort study protocol",
  "uid": "8459ba32-838e-551f-a007-3cc1785c21b4"
}