Background: Symptom persistence in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients, also known as Long COVID or Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19, is not well characterized or understood, and few studies have included non-COVID-19 control groups.
Methods: We used data from a cross-sectional COVID-19 questionnaire (September-December 2020) linked to baseline (2011-2015) and follow-up (2015-2018) data from a population-based cohort including 23,757 adults 50+ years to examine how age, sex, and pre-pandemic physical, psychological, social, and functional health were related to the severity and persistence of 23 COVID-19-related symptoms experienced between March 2020 and questionnaire completion.
Results: The most common symptoms are fatigue, dry cough, muscle/joint pain, sore throat, headache, and runny nose; reported by over 25% of participant who had (n = 121) or did not have (n = 23,636) COVID-19 during the study period. The cumulative incidence of moderate/severe symptoms in people with COVID-19 is more than double that reported by people without COVID-19, with the absolute difference ranging from 16.8% (runny nose) to 37.8% (fatigue). Approximately 60% of male and 73% of female participants with COVID-19 report at least one symptom persisting >1 month. Persistence >1 month is higher in females (aIRR = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.03, 2.73) and those with multimorbidity (aIRR = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.02, 3.49); persistence >3 months decreases by 15% with each unit increase in subjective social status after adjusting for age, sex and multimorbidity.
Conclusions: Many people living in the community who were not hospitalized for COVID-19 still experience symptoms 1- and 3-months post infection. These data suggest that additional supports, for example access to rehabilitative care, are needed to help some individuals fully recover.
Some people who develop COVID-19 experience persistence of symptoms. Here, we aimed to understand the factors associated with the severity and persistence of these symptoms in adults 50 years and older living in the community who had COVID-19. Using information provided by 23,757 participants from across Canada we compared the symptoms between those who had COVID-19 and those who did not. The number and severity of symptoms in participants who had COVID-19 was beyond what would be expected due to other causes. Over two-thirds of participants who had COVID-19 reported symptoms persisting for more than one month, and over half of the participants more than three months. Symptom persistence was higher in females, those with multiple chronic conditions, and lower perceived social status. This suggests that a substantial proportion of people who were not hospitalized for COVID-19 may require further healthcare assistance.
© 2023. The Author(s).