(2022) Symptoms and risk factors for long COVID in non-hospitalized adults. Nature Medicine, 28 (8). pp. 1706-1714. doi:10.1038/s41591-022-01909-w ISSN 1078-8956.
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Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with a range of persistent symptoms impacting everyday functioning, known as post-COVID-19 condition or long COVID. We undertook a retrospective matched cohort study using a UK-based primary care database, Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum, to determine symptoms that are associated with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection beyond 12 weeks in non-hospitalized adults and the risk factors associated with developing persistent symptoms. We selected 486,149 adults with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and 1,944,580 propensity score-matched adults with no recorded evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Outcomes included 115 individual symptoms, as well as long COVID, defined as a composite outcome of 33 symptoms by the World Health Organization clinical case definition. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for the outcomes. A total of 62 symptoms were significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection after 12 weeks. The largest aHRs were for anosmia (aHR 6.49, 95% CI 5.02–8.39), hair loss (3.99, 3.63–4.39), sneezing (2.77, 1.40–5.50), ejaculation difficulty (2.63, 1.61–4.28) and reduced libido (2.36, 1.61–3.47). Among the cohort of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, risk factors for long COVID included female sex, belonging to an ethnic minority, socioeconomic deprivation, smoking, obesity and a wide range of comorbidities. The risk of developing long COVID was also found to be increased along a gradient of decreasing age. SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with a plethora of symptoms that are associated with a range of sociodemographic and clinical risk factors.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
| SWORD Depositor: | Library Publications Router |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | COVID-19 (Disease), COVID-19 (Disease) -- Complications, COVID-19 (Disease) -- Etiology |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Nature Medicine |
| Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
| ISSN: | 1078-8956 |
| Official Date: | 25 July 2022 |
| Dates: | Date Event 25 July 2022 Published 21 June 2022 Accepted |
| Volume: | 28 |
| Number: | 8 |
| Page Range: | pp. 1706-1714 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41591-022-01909-w |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons open licence) |
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 13 September 2022 |
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 13 September 2022 |
| URI: | https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/168459/ |
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