Mayo, Nancy E, Brouillette, Marie-Josée, Falcone, Emilia Liana et al. · BMC infectious diseases · 2025 · DOI
This study surveyed 535 people in Quebec living with long-term COVID symptoms to understand what symptoms they experience, how much these symptoms affect their daily lives, and what treatments matter most to them. The most common symptom was fatigue, and people reported symptoms affecting multiple body systems. Most participants had been dealing with symptoms for over a year, and the impact on their quality of life was significant.
This study provides empirical data on the symptom patterns, functional burden, and patient priorities in post-COVID-19 syndrome, which shares significant clinical overlap with ME/CFS. Understanding which symptoms most impair quality of life and what patients prioritize can guide research directions and health service planning for similar post-viral conditions. The identification of PEM and fatigue as top priorities validates the importance of these ME/CFS-like features in long COVID research.
This cross-sectional study cannot establish causality or mechanisms underlying PCS symptoms. The reliance on social media and voluntary recruitment may introduce selection bias toward individuals with more severe symptoms or greater engagement with health advocacy. The study does not compare PCS to ME/CFS directly or examine whether these conditions are mechanistically identical.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Mayo, Nancy E, Brouillette, Marie-Josée, Falcone, Emilia Liana, & Fellows, Lesley K (2025). A patient-centered view of symptoms, functional impact, and priorities in post-COVID-19 syndrome: cross-sectional results from the Québec Action Post-COVID cohort.. BMC infectious diseases. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-025-10757-1
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mayo-2025-patient-centered,
author = {Mayo, Nancy E and Brouillette, Marie-Josée and Falcone, Emilia Liana and Fellows, Lesley K},
title = {A patient-centered view of symptoms, functional impact, and priorities in post-COVID-19 syndrome: cross-sectional results from the Québec Action Post-COVID cohort.},
journal = {BMC infectious diseases},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1186/s12879-025-10757-1},
note = {PubMed: 40169972},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mayo-2025-patient-centered},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mayo-2025-patient-centered
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