Table 2 Symptom concept elicitation—summary of responses and example quotes
Symptom | No. reporting (N = 24) | Example quotes |
|---|---|---|
Fatigue: tired/sleepy | 14 | “Since I got the virus, I don’t have enough strength and I get really tired. Every time I want to lean on my hand or and I can’t do it because there’s not enough strength and it start hurting to bone. There’s no strength in my body and I’m putting too much pressure on me. Yeah. I get really tired so quickly and that’s so much.” “It’s just I feel– I generally sometimes just feel tired. Like if I look at the computer screen for too long or I’m trying to work, my concentration goes down and I just feel like I want to sleep. But as I said, I’m not sure if it’s just because of the condition, or it’s just me.” “There are times when I feel very tired, extremely tired, and for some unknown reason. And I think I’m not too sure if that has anything to do with what I got apart from me working hard a lot.” |
Pain: abdominal | 6 | “I’ve got pains in my– on the right-hand side just below the rib cage where the liver is.” “I do get pains in my liver, like shooting pains in my liver.” |
Fatigue: lack of energy | 4 | “The main way I think is because I’m not feeling like last ten years, and now it’s coming to ten years, feeling I’m not as energetic like before.” |
Fatigue: weakness | 3 | “It definitely makes you– physically makes you weak.” |
Cognitive: foggy/difficulty concentrating | 4 | “In terms of work, it does– you can lose concentration, etc., but as I said, I’m not sure if that’s just one of the side effects of the medication and the condition.” |
Weight change | 3 | “I would say, first six months, I found it very, very difficult. I lost lot of weight. I lost a significant of weight and there’s no strength in my body, and there was no I couldn’t eat. I could not even eat.” |
Dizziness/feel faint | 2 | “I was palpitating. Most times, I have to lay down on my bed most times because, at that period in time, it affected my liver to a very good extent.” |
Gastrointestinal: heartburn/indigestion | 2 | “It appears to take longer for me to digest stuff, so if I eat around a significant time […] when I was, I mean, years ago, I will be uncomfortable.” |
Poor vision | 2 | “I think my eyesight is getting worse now because now the things I can– before more blurry, less blurry are becoming more blurry. So that’s something that’s really going to affect you more physically.” |