LOS ANGELES >> Nearly 5,000 volunteers are needed for a nationwide online study into the long-term symptoms of COVID-19, UCLA reported on Thursday, June 3.

“In this study, we are asking eligible people to share their health information so that researchers and physicians can better understand and improve long-term clinical care for patients with persistent health issues after COVID-19 infection. Said Dr. Joann Elmore, professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and principal investigator at the UCLA site.

Researchers said they were particularly interested in COVID-19 survivors known as “long haul” who continue to struggle with health issues long after becoming infected.

Participants will be asked to complete brief online surveys every three months for a year and a half, with researchers taking a close look at participants’ self-reported and medically-documented physical and mental functions, including neurocognitive function and chronic fatigue.

Those interested in participating must be 18 years of age or older, have been tested for COVID-19 within the past 42 days with positive or negative test results, and have not had a previous diagnosis of COVID-19, present symptoms known to be associated with COVID-19 such as headaches and fatigue when testing and having access to an internet-connected device such as a smartphone, tablet or computer to complete surveys in line.

“Participants who enroll in this study will provide valuable information for the future care and long-term understanding of people whose health has been affected by COVID-19,” said Raul Moreno, who helps coordinate the part of the UCLA / Los Angeles region of the study.

The study will be conducted in English and Spanish under the auspices of INSPIRE (Innovative Support for Patients with SARS COV-2 Infections Registry), a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and led by the Rush University Medical Center. from Chicago.

Other participating medical centers include the University of California at San Francisco, University of Washington, Yale New Haven Health, University of Texas at Houston, University of Texas Southwestern, and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

More information is available at https://inspirecovidstudy.med.ucla.edu/.