TABLE 2. Characteristics associated with not returning to usual health among symptomatic outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)–positive test results (N = 270)* reported at an interview conducted 14–21 days after testing — 14 academic health care systems,† United States, March–June 2020.
| Characteristic | Odds of not returning to “usual health” at 14–21 days after testing |
|
|---|---|---|
| Unadjusted odds ratio (95% CI)§ | Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI)§,¶ | |
|
Age group (yrs)
| ||
| 18–34 |
Referent |
Referent |
| 35–49 |
1.40 (0.73–2.67) |
1.38 (0.71–2.69) |
| ≥50 |
2.64 (1.39–5.00) |
2.29 (1.14–4.58) |
|
Sex
| ||
| Women |
Referent |
Referent |
| Men |
0.68 (0.41–1.13) |
0.80 (0.46–1.38) |
|
Race/Ethnicity
| ||
| White, non-Hispanic |
Referent |
Referent |
| Black, non-Hispanic |
1.23 (0.60–2.53) |
1.13 (0.53–2.45) |
| Other, non-Hispanic |
0.53 (0.21–1.31) |
0.63 (0.24–1.61) |
| Hispanic |
0.74 (0.40–1.34) |
0.83 (0.44–1.58) |
|
No. of medical conditions
| ||
| 0 |
Referent |
Referent |
| 1 |
0.94 (0.47–1.89) |
0.74 (0.35–1.55) |
| 2 |
2.09 (1.00–4.38) |
1.50 (0.68–3.33) |
| ≥3 |
3.19 (1.56–6.50) |
2.29 (1.07–4.90) |
|
Individual medical conditions**
| ||
| Hypertension |
1.98 (1.12–3.52) |
1.30 (0.67–2.51) |
| Obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2) |
2.65 (1.42–4.95) |
2.31 (1.21–4.42) |
| Psychiatric condition |
2.42 (1.29–4.56) |
2.32 (1.17–4.58) |
| Asthma |
1.00 (0.48–2.08) |
1.02 (0.47–2.20) |
| Diabetes |
1.38 (0.62–3.05) |
1.06 (0.46–2.44) |
| Immunosuppressive condition |
2.84 (0.98–8.26) |
2.33 (0.77–7.04) |
| Autoimmune condition |
1.55 (0.51–4.76) |
1.05 (0.32–3.46) |
| Blood disorder |
1.82 (0.45–7.45) |
1.43 (0.33–6.24) |
| Chronic kidney disease |
2.42 (0.53–11.05) |
2.36 (0.48–11.51) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease |
1.34 (0.29–6.12) |
0.70 (0.14–3.48) |
| Liver disease |
0.88 (0.16–4.90) |
0.72 (0.12–4.25) |
| Neurologic condition |
1.78 (0.35–9.01) |
1.23 (0.23–6.62) |
| Coronary artery disease |
0.58 (0.06–5.70) |
0.48 (0.05–4.92) |
| Congestive heart failure | — | — |
Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index; CI = confidence interval.
* 294 patients responded to 14–21-day interview, did not report a previous positive SARS-CoV-2 test before the reference test, and answered questions about symptoms; 276 (94%) of these reported one or more symptoms at the time of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing, with 272 (99%) reporting whether they had returned to their usual state of health by the time of the interview. Two additional patients who were called at 7 days were excluded, with 270 included here.
† Patients were randomly sampled from academic healthcare systems in 13 states (University of Washington [Washington], Oregon Health and Sciences University [Oregon], University of California Los Angeles and Stanford University [California], Hennepin County Medical Center [Minnesota], Vanderbilt University [Tennessee], Ohio State University [Ohio], Wake Forest University [North Carolina], Montefiore Medical Center [New York], Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center [Massachusetts], Intermountain Healthcare [Utah/Idaho], University of Colorado Hospital [Colorado], and Johns Hopkins University [Maryland]).
§ For this analysis, generalized estimation equation (GEE) models with exchangeable correlation structure were used to estimate the association between characteristics and the odds of not returning to usual health by the date of the 14–21-day interview. GEE models were used to account for clustering of cases by site. 95% CIs including 1.00 are not considered statistically significant.
¶ In adjusted GEE models for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and number of chronic medical conditions, the other variables were used to adjust for potential confounders. Models for individual conditions (e.g., hypertension) were adjusted for age, sex, and race/ethnicity.
** Medical conditions are not exclusive and individual patients could have more than one chronic medical condition.