Table 2.

Description of included studies

Study, year [ref], location	Study design	Study setting	Recruitment method	Recruited participants	LC stage when recruited
1. Brodsky, 2021 [53], USA	Case study with pre-post survey	Outpatient subspecialty clinic within a Healthcare System	Referral through medical doctors or self-referred. The program was extensively covered in TV and print media	N = 12 pre-post, n = 2 Case study Gender: women Age: Mean 50 years; case study 50, 78 (mean 64) years Ethnicity: case study: White non-Hispanic	Not collected
2. Bogolepova et al., 2021 [51], Russia	Two arm clinical trial with pre-post assessment	NR	NR	N = 100 Gender: 41 women, 59 men Age: range 22–71 (mean 50) years Ethnicity: NR	Had acute COVID-19 infection 5.4 months earlier
3. Tereshin et al., 2021 [52], Russia	Controlled trial	Secondary care	NR	N = 45 (21 intervention and 24 control) Gender: 22 women, 23 men Age: Intervention group: mean 56 years Comparison group: mean 57 years Ethnicity: NR	NR
4. Fowler-Davis et al., 2021[54], UK	Qualitative and pre-post assessment	University setting in collaboration with a local GP collaborative group	Through a local community wellbeing group and social prescribing network	N = 10 recruited; 8 completed Gender: 6 women, 2 men Age: range 38–73 years Ethnicity: white British (n = 4), others (n = 4)	At least 12 weeks post-infection (range 4–14 months)
5. Harenwall et al., 2021 [55], UK	Single arm pre-post assessment	Primary care	Self-registration to the programme (health, social and care staff, and outreach to key stakeholders of different sites, e.g., hospital, care home, police, council workers, teachers, local charity workers)	N = 219 registered; 149 completed pre-course assessment; 76 completed post course assessment Age: Pre-course: mean 47 years; Post course: mean 49 years Gender: Pre-course assessment: 112 women, 16 men, 21 missing gender Post-course assessment: 53 women, 8 men, 15 missing gender Ethnicity: Pre-course: white British (67%), South Asian (13%), Asian British (4%), mixed heritage (3%), missing (13%). Post-course: White British (79%), South Asian (7%), Asian British (3%), mixed heritage (4%), undisclosed (7%)	A mean of 5.99 months since acute COVID-19 infection (SD 3.89)
6. Łuckoś et al., 2021 [56], Poland	Case study	NR	NR	N = 1 Gender: woman Age: 48 years Ethnicity: NR	Had acute COVID-19 infection six months earlier
7. Compagno et al., 2022 [57], Italy	Single arm pre-post design	Hospital out-patient care	NR	N = 30 Gender: 12 women, 18 men Age: mean 58 years Ethnicity: NR	A mean of 3 (range 1–6) months since resolution of acute COVID-19 infection
8. Esin et al., 2022 [50], Russia	Three arm clinical trial with pre-post assessment	Home or hospital setting	NR	N = 92 Gender: NR Age: Group 1 (n = 40) mean 43 years Group 2 (n = 32) mean 45 years Group 3 (n = 20) mean 45 years Ethnicity: NR	Had acute COVID-19 infection 12 weeks earlier
9. Brough et al., 2022 [58], UK	Service evaluation with pre-post assessment	Community setting	Self-referral, advertised through social media, social prescribing network and word of mouth	N = 25 Gender: 15 women, 7 men, 3 gender not disclosed Age: range 15–92 years Ethnicity: white British (n = 18), white Asian (n = 1), other white background (n = 2), Chinese (n = 1), undisclosed (n = 3)	NR
10. Wagner et al., 2022 [59], Austria	Case report	Hospital rehabilitation department	NR	N = 1 Gender: woman Age: 55 years Ethnicity: NR	Had acute COVID-19 infection 6.5 months earlier
11. Garcia-Molina et al., 2022 [60], Spain	RCT	Secondary care	Eligible clinical participants were included without seeking their permission as the sample was derived from clinical practice (without altering the care protocols)	N = 91 treatment group (and 32 control group) Gender: 55 women, 36 men in treatment group Age: mean 50 years in treatment group Ethnicity: Spanish, white	At least 12 weeks post-acute COVID-19
12. Philip et al., 2022 [61], UK	Parallel-group, single-blind RCT	Secondary care	Referral from LC clinics	N = 150 (74 intervention, 76 control) Gender: 121 women, 26 men Age: mean 49 years Ethnicity: Intervention (white 82%, black/ British black 1%, Asian/British Asian 5%, mixed/multiple 4%, other 5%, undisclosed 3% Control: white (82%), black/British black (9%), Asian/British Asian (4%), mixed/multiple (3%), other (1%), undisclosed (1%)	A mean time of 320 days (around 10.5 months) since Acute COVID-19 infection
13. Tobinick et al., 2022 [62], USA	Case study	Secondary care	Treatment performed as part of standard medical practice, as requested by patient	N = 1 Gender: woman Age: 48 years Ethnicity: White, non-Latino	Had acute COVID-19 infection 12 months earlier
14. Wang et al., 2022 [63], USA	Case study	NR	NR	N = 1 Gender: woman Age: 55–60 Ethnicity: NR	Had acute COVID-19 infection over a year earlier
15. Skilbeck, 2022 [64], UK	Case study	Primary care	NR	N = 1 Gender: man Age: 36 years Ethnicity: Asian British	Had acute COVID-19 infection 8 months earlier
16. Orendáčová et al., 2022 [65], Czech Republic	Single arm pre-post pilot study	Described as both secondary and quaternary care setting	Through social media	N = 10 Gender: 7 women, 3 men Age: range 19- 46 (median 21) years Ethnicity: All participants are from Czech Republic	A median time of 12 months (range 3–19 months) since having acute COVID-19 infection
17. Koliadenko et al., 2022 [66], Ukraine	Single arm pre-post-follow up evaluation	Remote medical consultative psychological and psychiatric help	Self-referred for treatment	N = 129 Gender: 68 women, 61 men Age: 27.9% between 50–59 years Ethnicity: NR	NR

LC Long COVID, NR not reported, RCT Randomised Controlled Trial