Health Status, Persistent Symptoms, and Effort Intolerance One Year After Acute COVID-19 Infection

Background The long-term prevalence and risk factors for post-acute COVID-19 sequelae (PASC) are not well described and may have important implications for unvaccinated populations and policy makers. Objective To assess health status, persistent symptoms, and effort tolerance approximately 1 year after COVID-19 infection Design Retrospective observational cohort study using surveys and clinical data Participants Survey respondents who were survivors of acute COVID-19 infection requiring Emergency Department presentation or hospitalization between March 3 and May 15, 2020. Main Measure(s) Self-reported health status, persistent symptoms, and effort tolerance Key Results The 530 respondents (median time between hospital presentation and survey 332 days [IQR 325-344]) had mean age 59.2 +/- 16.3 years, 44.5% were female and 70.8% were non-White. Of these, 41.5% reported worse health compared to a year prior, 44.2% reported persistent symptoms, 36.2% reported limitations in lifting/carrying groceries, 35.5% reported limitations climbing one flight of stairs, 38.1% reported limitations bending/kneeling/stooping, and 22.1% reported limitations walking one block. Even those without high-risk comorbid conditions and those seen only in the Emergency Department (but not hospitalized) experienced significant deterioration in health, persistent symptoms, and limitations in effort tolerance. Women (adjusted relative risk ratio [aRRR] 1.26, 95% CI 1.01-1.56), those requiring mechanical ventilation (aRRR 1.48, 1.02-2.14), and people with HIV (aRRR 1.75, 1.14-2.69) were significantly more likely to report persistent symptoms. Age and other risk factors for more severe COVID-19 illness were not associated with increased risk of PASC. Conclusions PASC may be extraordinarily common 1 year after COVID-19, and these symptoms are sufficiently severe to impact the daily exercise tolerance of patients. PASC symptoms are broadly distributed, are not limited to one specific patient group, and appear to be unrelated to age. These data have implications for vaccine hesitant individuals, policy makers, and physicians managing the emerging longer-term yet unknown impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Automated summary

This study examined the health status, persistent symptoms, and effort tolerance approximately 1 year after COVID-19 infection and found that post-acute COVID-19 sequelae (PASC) are very common during this time period and severe enough to impact daily exercise tolerance. PASC symptoms are widely distributed, not limited to a specific patient group, and unrelated to age.