Post-acute symptoms, new onset diagnoses and health problems 6 to 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a ..., 2022, Sorenson et al

Preprint.

Full title: Post-acute symptoms, new onset diagnoses and health problems 6 to 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a nationwide questionnaire study in the adult Danish population

Abstract

Background. A considerable number of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 continue to experience symptoms after the acute phase. More information on duration and prevalence of these symptoms in non-hospitalized populations is needed.

Methods. We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study including 152 880 individuals aged 15-years or older, consisting of RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases between September 2020-April 2021 (N=61 002) and a corresponding test-negative control group (N=91 878). Data were collected 6, 9 or 12 months after the test using web-based questionnaires. The questionnaire covered acute and post-acute symptoms, selected diagnoses, sick leave and general health, together with demographics and life style at baseline. Risk differences (RDs) between test-positives and -negatives were reported, adjusted for age, sex, single comorbidities, Charlson comorbidity score, obesity and healthcare-occupation.

Findings. Six to twelve months after the test date, the risks of 18 out of 21 physical symptoms were elevated among test-positives and one third (29.6%) of the test-positives experienced at least one physical post-acute symptom. The largest risk differences were observed for dysosmia (RD = 10.92%, 95%CI 10.68-11.21%), dysgeusia (RD=8.68%, 95%CI 8.43-8.93%), fatigue/exhaustion (RD=8.43%, 95%CI 8.14-8.74%), dyspnea (RD=4.87%, 95%CI 4.65-5.09%) and reduced strength in arms/legs (RD=4.68%, 95%CI 4.45-4.89%). More than half (53.1%) of test-positives reported at least one of the following conditions: concentration difficulties (RD=28.34%, 95%CI 27.34-28.78%), memory issues (RD=27.25%, 95%CI 26.80-27.71%), sleep problems (RD=17.27%, 95%CI 16.81-17.73%), mental (RD=32.58%, 95%CI 32.11-33.09%) or physical exhaustion (RD=40.45%, 95%CI 33.99-40.97%), compared to 11.5% of test-negatives. New diagnoses of anxiety (RD=1.15%, 95%CI 0.95-1.34%) or depression (RD=1.00%, 95%CI 0.81-1.19%) were also more common among test-positives.

Interpretation. At the population-level, where the majority of test-positives (96.0%) were not hospitalized during acute infection, a considerable proportion experience post-acute symptoms and sequelae 6-12 months after infection.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.27.22271328v1

 

I like "post-acute."

I do not like "after infection." "After infection" implies to me the infection is a thing of the past. I'm not sure they have proven this.

 

I got Covid last November, and I had it quite badly. I dealt with it at home. One continuing effect that I've had is that a pre-existing health problem (that has nothing to do with Covid or ME) has got significantly worse, and it is still deteriorating.

 

These are huge numbers!

For ease of reading I have removed the stats from the quote above.

(Six to twelve months after the test date), More than half (53.1%) of test-positives reported at least one of the following conditions: concentration difficulties, memory issues, sleep problems, mental or physical exhaustion, compared to 11.5% of test-negatives.

This is out of a study of over 150,000 people who tested positive to Covid with a control of close to 900 people who had negative Covid tests. The majority of test-positives (96.0%) were not hospitalized during acute infection.

I hope this study continues to determine how many people continue to have symptoms above after a longer period than 12 months.

Edited for clarity & typo

 

Wow - I sure messed up on the study numbers above. So much for providing ease of reading. Here is my sheepish correction.

The entire study was composed of over 150,000 people. This consisted of about 60,000 study subjects who tested positive for Covid and about 90,000 controls who had negative covid tests.