Investigating the prevalence of long COVID in Scotland

Glossary

Glossary of terms and acronyms used in this publication.

CIS: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey.

Coronavirus and COVID-19: Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause disease in people and animals. They can cause the common cold or more severe diseases, such as COVID-19. COVID-19 is the name used to refer to the disease caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus, which is a type of coronavirus.

Long COVID: the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines long COVID as “a multi-system condition with a range of debilitating symptoms — signs and symptoms continue or develop after acute COVID-19, continue for more than four weeks, and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis”.

NICE: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

ONS: Office for National Statistics.

Prevalence: the proportion of a population with self-reported long COVID.

SHeS: Scottish Health Survey.

SIMD: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, a relative measure of deprivation across Scotland.

SRS: Secure Research Service

WCIS: Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study.