Predictors of Postacute Sequelae of COVID-19 Development and Rehabilitation: A Retrospective Study

Objective: To examine the frequency of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) and the factors associated with rehabilitation utilization in a large adult population with PASC.Design: Retrospective study.Setting: Midwest hospital health system.Participants: 19,792 patients with COVID-19 from March 10, 2020, to January 17, 2021.Intervention: Not applicable.Main Outcome Measures: Descriptive analyses were conducted across the entire cohort along with an adult subgroup analysis. A logistic regres-sion was performed to assess factors associated with PASC development and rehabilitation utilization. Results: In an analysis of 19,792 patients, the frequency of PASC was 42.8% in the adult population. Patients with PASC compared with those without had a higher utilization of rehabilitation services (8.6% vs 3.8%, P<.001). Risk factors for rehabilitation utilization in patients with PASC included younger age (odds ratio [OR], 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98-1.00; P=.01). In addition to several comorbidities and demo-graphics factors, risk factors for rehabilitation utilization solely in the inpatient population included male sex (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.02-1.50; P=.03) with patients on angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers 3 months prior to COVID-19 infections having a decreased risk of needing rehabilitation (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.64-0.99; P=.04).Conclusions: Patients with PASC had higher rehabilitation utilization. We identified several clinical and demographic factors associated with the development of PASC and rehabilitation utilization. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2022;103:2001-8 (c) 2022 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Automated summary

This study examined the frequency of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) and factors associated with rehabilitation utilization. The results showed that patients with PASC had higher utilization of rehabilitation services and factors such as younger age, comorbidities, and male sex were significantly associated with rehabilitation utilization.