Mazurkiewicz, Iwona, Chatys-Bogacka, Żaneta, Słowik, Joanna et al. · Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska · 2023 · DOI
This study followed 204 people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 and tracked their fatigue symptoms over time. Before COVID-19, about 44% reported fatigue symptoms, but after infection, this jumped to 77% within 4 weeks. Even more than 12 weeks later, 66% still had fatigue—higher than before they got sick. Women were more likely to report fatigue than men.
This study provides evidence that post-COVID fatigue affects a substantial proportion of previously hospitalized patients and persists beyond 12 weeks, supporting recognition of post-COVID fatigue as a clinically significant condition. The identification of sex-based differences in fatigue burden may inform patient stratification and clinical management strategies in both post-COVID and ME/CFS populations.
This study does not establish causation between COVID-19 and fatigue—only temporal association. It cannot determine whether fatigue represents true ME/CFS (which requires specific diagnostic criteria including post-exertional malaise) or a broader post-viral syndrome, since only eight chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms were assessed without full diagnostic criteria validation. The retrospective nature means symptom recall bias may have affected reported baseline and early-phase prevalence.
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
Mazurkiewicz, Iwona, Chatys-Bogacka, Żaneta, Słowik, Joanna, Zdanecka, Magdalena, Siwiec-Koźlik, Andżelika, Słowik, Agnieszka, et al. (2023). Course of fatigue among patients previously hospitalised due to COVID-19.. Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska. https://doi.org/10.5603/PJNNS.a2023.0015
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mazurkiewicz-2023-course-fatigue,
author = {Mazurkiewicz, Iwona and Chatys-Bogacka, Żaneta and Słowik, Joanna and Zdanecka, Magdalena and Siwiec-Koźlik, Andżelika and Słowik, Agnieszka and Drabik, Leszek and Wnuk, Marcin},
title = {Course of fatigue among patients previously hospitalised due to COVID-19.},
journal = {Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.5603/PJNNS.a2023.0015},
note = {PubMed: 36810758},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mazurkiewicz-2023-course-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mazurkiewicz-2023-course-fatigue
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