COVID INSPIRE STUDY
Investigating the long term effects of COVID
The RHCW is partnering with Rush colleagues from various departments to investigate the long-term effects of COVID by referring patients to the INSPIRE study.
Chronic fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, loss of smell or taste and confusion and memory concerns are some of the debilitating symptoms that are persisting in COVID-19 survivors, weeks and sometimes months after onset. The exact reason for why this is happening is unknown and the term now being used for this condition is COVID -19 Long-Hauler Syndrome.
Rush has joined other academic centers across the country to enroll patients in a Center for Disease Control initiative called INSPIRE with the hope to find some answers.
What Is INSPIRE?
The CDC has estimated that 1 in 3 COVID-19 patients may develop prolonged illness, presenting the urgent need to address this crisis.
INSPIRE (Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection Registry) will follow COVID-19 patients over time, in order to better understand the range and persistence of symptoms.
Rush is one of the eight participating institutions that together received $13 million in funding to collect data from patients via surveys that will form part of a national registry. Rush plans to enroll 400 patients over the age of 18 years who have had COVID tests in the last month. Both persons with positive and negative tests are eligible to enroll.
The Rush Heart Center for Women will be actively recruiting patients for this study, so we can learn more about how COVID is affecting women with heart disease.
Patients who are interested can click on the links below to the flyers and begin the enrollment process. Both English and Spanish instructions are available.
Once enrolled, a survey will be sent every 3 months for 18 months to track long-term outcomes. Once the survey is complete, patients will receive a gift card that they can use online.