Some 100 million people worldwide are believed to be living with Long COVID. Studying their illness has been challenging due to the disease’s complexity, with its wide-ranging symptoms that can vary among individuals and haven’t been adequately addressed with previous symptom questionnaires. In the U.K., the University of Birmingham’s validated, all language-capable Symptom Burden QuestionnaireTM for Long COVID (SBQ™-LC) promises to change the Long COVID landscape and meet the World Health Organization’s request for expedited research.*

What is the SBQ™-LC?

Created according to international best practices by the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Patient-Reported Outcomes Research, the SBQ™-LC uses modern methods to assess 16 Long COVID symptom areas, along with their impacts on daily life. 

Created through a partnership with Mapi Research Trust, a non-profit group that provides expertise in clinical outcomes assessment, the tool can be translated into foreign languages and validated for linguistic accuracy to support international research efforts. A Mapi representative said the organization will ensure that the questionnaire “is used consistently and appropriately by research teams across languages, countries, and technology.”

Since we don’t yet have a clear understanding of what causes Long COVID, says Sarah Hughes, Ph.D., a research fellow at the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Applied Health Research, “it remains important to record, accurately and reliably, the fullest roster of symptoms, so we can create datasets of patient experience that can be compared or consolidated.” 

This means having an assessment tool that goes beyond fatigue and brain fog, to include other symptoms shown in current research.

How it works

Hughes, who led the SBQ™-LC development team, said the symptom questionnaire is comprehensive in scope, yet convenient for patients. It can be done in either paper or digital app format.

The range of symptom areas covered includes, among others:

• Breathing
• Pain
• Circulation
• Fatigue
• Thought processing and communication 
• Memory 
• Movement
• Muscles and joints
• Sleep
• Stomach and digestion
• Ear, nose and throat
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Hair, skin and eyes 
• Reproductive health (male/female)

The questionnaire provides clinicians and researchers with:

• An option of gathering data comprehensively or on certain symptom clusters only, and
• An easy scoring system of 0-100 for each symptom area.

This simple structure, Hughes explains, allows for Long COVID symptoms to be quickly compared, offers a “real-world picture” of disease burden on quality of life, and can be useful when applying for approval of new treatments.

*University of Birmingham. (2022, December 8). University of Birmingham announces all language capability for tool to expedite Long COVID research. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2022/university-of-birmingham-announces-all-language-capability-for-tool-to-expedite-long-covid-research