Table 2.
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of individuals with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) as defined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence compared individuals without PASC and previously diagnosed with COVID-19 in the ENSANUT 2022 sample.
| Characteristic | Overall sample |
p-valueb | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall, N = 5211a | Without PACS, N = 4161a | PACS, N = 1050a | ||
| Male sex (%) | 2322 (45%) | 1934 (46%) | 388 (37%) | <0.001 |
| Age (years) | 43 (31, 55) | 42 (30, 54) | 47 (35, 57) | <0.001 |
| Reinfection (%) | 638 (12%) | 465 (11%) | 173 (16%) | <0.001 |
| Omicron variant (%) | 2087 (40%) | 1716 (41%) | 371 (35%) | <0.001 |
| COVID-19 vaccine (%) | 4830 (93%) | 3843 (92%) | 987 (94%) | 0.068 |
| Symptom duration | <0.001 | |||
| No persistent symptoms | 2320 (45%) | 2320 (56%) | 0 (0%) | |
| <1 month | 1363 (26%) | 1363 (33%) | 0 (0%) | |
| 1–3 months | 478 (9.2%) | 478 (11%) | 0 (0%) | |
| 3–6 months | 124 (2.4%) | 0 (0%) | 124 (12%) | |
| >6 months | 126 (2.4%) | 0 (0%) | 126 (12%) | |
| Still persistent | 800 (15%) | 0 (0%) | 800 (76%) | |
| Any symptom (%) | 2839 (54%) | 1793 (43%) | 1046 (100%) | <0.001 |
| Loss of smell/taste (%) | 692 (13%) | 501 (12%) | 191 (18%) | <0.001 |
| Brain fog (%) | 166 (3.2%) | 74 (1.8%) | 92 (8.8%) | <0.001 |
| Gastrointestinal symptoms (%) | 160 (3.1%) | 119 (2.9%) | 41 (3.9%) | 0.079 |
| Chest pain (%) | 285 (5.5%) | 170 (4.1%) | 115 (11%) | <0.001 |
| Breathlessness (%) | 358 (6.9%) | 198 (4.8%) | 160 (15%) | <0.001 |
| Dyspnea (%) | 513 (9.8%) | 283 (6.8%) | 230 (22%) | <0.001 |
| Musculoskeletal pain (%) | 913 (18%) | 617 (15%) | 296 (28%) | <0.001 |
| Dizziness (%) | 213 (4.1%) | 130 (3.1%) | 83 (7.9%) | <0.001 |
| Headache (%) | 817 (16%) | 575 (14%) | 242 (23%) | <0.001 |
| Weight loss (%) | 203 (3.9%) | 149 (3.6%) | 54 (5.1%) | 0.019 |
| Loss of appetite (%) | 210 (4.0%) | 169 (4.1%) | 41 (3.9%) | 0.8 |
| Kidney problems (%) | 55 (1.1%) | 30 (0.7%) | 25 (2.4%) | <0.001 |
| Sleep disturbances (%) | 288 (5.5%) | 169 (4.1%) | 119 (11%) | <0.001 |
| Fever (%) | 670 (13%) | 608 (15%) | 62 (5.9%) | <0.001 |
| Depression (%) | 187 (3.6%) | 117 (2.8%) | 70 (6.7%) | <0.001 |
| Anxiety (%) | 256 (4.9%) | 145 (3.5%) | 111 (11%) | <0.001 |
| Fatigue (%) | 1250 (24%) | 783 (19%) | 467 (44%) | <0.001 |
| Chronic cough (%) | 978 (19%) | 737 (18%) | 241 (23%) | <0.001 |
| Post-exertional malaise (%) | 541 (10%) | 342 (8.2%) | 199 (19%) | <0.001 |
| PASC score | 0.0 (0.0, 5.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 4.0) | 3.0 (1.0, 8.0) | <0.001 |
| DISLI quartile | <0.001 | |||
| Q1 | 1707 (33%) | 1430 (34%) | 277 (26%) | |
| Q2 | 1630 (31%) | 1304 (31%) | 326 (31%) | |
| Q3 | 965 (19%) | 721 (17%) | 244 (23%) | |
| Q4 | 909 (17%) | 706 (17%) | 203 (19%) | |
| CES-D score | 5.0 (3.0, 8.0) | 5.0 (3.0, 7.0) | 6.0 (4.0, 9.0) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes (%) | 358 (14%) | 258 (13%) | 100 (17%) | 0.015 |
| Hypertension (%) | 505 (20%) | 357 (18%) | 148 (26%) | <0.001 |
| Daily smoking (%) | 178 (7.1%) | 140 (7.3%) | 38 (6.6%) | 0.6 |
| Previous myocardial infarction (%) | 61 (1.2%) | 41 (1.0%) | 20 (1.9%) | 0.013 |
| Chronic angina (%) | 53 (1.0%) | 34 (0.8%) | 19 (1.8%) | 0.004 |
| Heart failure (%) | 53 (1.0%) | 36 (0.9%) | 17 (1.6%) | 0.030 |
| Previous stroke (%) | 24 (1a.0%) | 20 (1.0%) | 4 (0.7%) | 0.6 |
| Chronic kidney disease (%) | 45 (1.8%) | 32 (1.7%) | 13 (2.3%) | 0.3 |
| BMI categories | 0.10 | |||
| Low BMI | 15 (0.9%) | 14 (1.1%) | 1 (0.2%) | |
| Normal-range BMI | 293 (17%) | 232 (18%) | 61 (14%) | |
| Overweight | 622 (36%) | 467 (36%) | 155 (36%) | |
| Obesity | 796 (46%) | 585 (45%) | 211 (49%) | |
| Vaccine type | 0.091 | |||
| Unvaccinated | 381 (7.3%) | 318 (7.6%) | 63 (6.0%) | |
| mRNA | 1607 (31%) | 1291 (31%) | 316 (30%) | |
| Adenovirus vector | 2629 (50%) | 2075 (50%) | 554 (53%) | |
| Inactivated virus | 438 (8.4%) | 344 (8.3%) | 94 (9.0%) | |
| Other | 156 (3.0%) | 133 (3.2%) | 23 (2.2%) | |
| Incapacitating symptoms | 457 (8.8%) | 310 (7.5%) | 147 (14%) | <0.001 |
a
n (%); Median (IQR).
b
Pearson's Chi-squared test; Wilcoxon rank sum test; Fisher's exact test.