Confirmation of COVID-19 infection status and reporting of Long COVID symptoms in a population-based birth cohort: No evidence of a nocebo effect.

Some patients with COVID-19 develop symptoms after the acute infection, known as 'Long COVID'. We examined whether or not confirmation of COVID-19 infection status could act as a nocebo, using data from questionnaires distributed to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. We examined associations between confirmation of COVID-19 infection status (confirmed by a positive test vs unconfirmed) and reporting of Long COVID symptoms.