Table 1.
Baseline demographics and symptoms of 201 low-risk individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome
| All patients (N=201) | Healthy controls (n=36) | P value | Not hospitalised (n=163) | Hospitalised (n=37) | P value | Moderate PCS (n=77) | Severe PCS (n=116) | P value | |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 44 (11.0) | 39 (12.4) | 0.013 | 43 (10.9) | 50 (10.0) | 0.001 | 45 (12.2) | 44 (10.0) | 0.419 |
| Female, n (%) | 142 (70.6) | 14 (38.9) | 0.032 | 118 (72.4) | 23 (62.2) | 0.302 | 51 (66.2) | 85 (73.3) | 0.374 |
| BMI (kg/m2), median (IQR) | 25.7 (22.7–28.1) | 23.2 (21.4–23.1) | <0.001 | 25.3 (22.7–27.7) | 27.2 (23.1–31.0) | 0.063 | 25.8 (22.7–27.9) | 25.4 (22.5–28.2) | 0.639 |
| Ethnicity | |||||||||
| White | 176 (87.6) | 33 (91.7) | 148 (90.8) | 28 (75.7) | 67 (87.0) | 106 (91.4) | 0.178 | ||
| Mixed | 3 (1.5) | 0 (0) | 0.904 | 3 (1.8) | 0 (0) | 0.016 | 1 (1.3) | 2 (1.7) | |
| South Asian | 7 (3.5) | 3 (8.3) | 4 (2.5) | 3 (8.1) | 5 (6.5) | 0 (0) | |||
| Black | 4 (2.0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.6) | 2 (5.4) | 2 (2.6) | 2 (1.7) | |||
| Comorbidities and risks | |||||||||
| Smoking | 0.244 | ||||||||
| Never | 133 (66.2) | 20 (60.6) | 108 (66.3) | 24 (64.9) | 55 (71.4) | 72 (61.7) | |||
| Current | 6 (3.0) | 8 (24.2) | <0.001 | 6 (3.7) | 0 (0) | 0.641 | 3 (3.9) | 3 (2.6) | |
| Ex-smoker | 62 (30.8) | 5 (15.2) | 49 (30.1) | 13 (35.1) | 19 (24.7) | 41 (35.3) | |||
| Healthcare worker | 64 (31.8) | 4 (12.1) | 0.009 | 50 (30.7) | 13 (35.1) | 0.695 | 33 (42.9) | 28 (24.1) | 0.007 |
| Asthma | 37 (18.4) | 0 (0) | 0.002 | 34 (20.9) | 3 (8.1) | 0.099 | 13 (16.9) | 22 (19.0) | 0.849 |
| BMI | |||||||||
| ≥25 kg/m2 | 113 (56.5) | 7 (20) | 87 (53.7) | 25 (67.6) | 0.144 | 46 (60.5) | 62 (53.4) | 0.374 | |
| ≥30 kg/m2 | 40 (20.0) | 0 (0) | 28 (17.3) | 12 (32.4) | 0.066 | 16 (21.1) | 24 (20.7) | 1.000 | |
| Hypertension | 13 (6.5) | 0 (0) | 0.001 | 11 (6.7) | 2 (5.4) | 1.000 | 6 (7.8) | 7 (6.0) | 0.771 |
| Diabetes | 4 (2.0) | 0 (0) | 0.104 | 4 (2.5) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 | 4 (5.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0.024 |
| Previous heart disease | 9 (4.5) | 0 (0) | 0.001 | 8 (4.9) | 1 (2.7) | 1.000 | 3 (3.9) | 5 (4.3) | 1.000 |
| Symptoms | |||||||||
| Fatigue | 196 (98.0) | 159 (97.5) | 37 (100.0) | 1.000 | 73 (96.1) | 115 (99.1) | 0.302 | ||
| Shortness of breath | 176 (88.0) | 141 (86.5) | 35 (94.6) | 0.262 | 58 (76.3) | 112 (96.6) | <0.0001 | ||
| Muscle ache | 173 (86.5) | 142 (87.1) | 31 (83.8) | 0.597 | 66 (86.8) | 101 (87.1) | 1.000 | ||
| Headache | 165 (82.5) | 138 (84.7) | 27 (73.0) | 0.098 | 56 (73.7) | 102 (87.9) | 0.019 | ||
| Joint pain | 156 (78.0) | 127 (77.9) | 29 (78.4) | 1.000 | 56 (73.7) | 94 (81.0) | 0.284 | ||
| Chest pain | 152 (76.0) | 128 (78.5) | 24 (64.9) | 0.090 | 47 (61.8) | 98 (84.5) | 0.001 | ||
| Cough | 146 (73.0) | 117 (71.8) | 29 (78.4) | 0.539 | 55 (72.4) | 84 (72.4) | 1.000 | ||
| Fever | 144 (72.0) | 113 (69.3) | 31 (83.8) | 0.104 | 51 (67.1) | 86 (74.1) | 0.329 | ||
| Sore throat | 143 (71.5) | 120 (73.6) | 23 (62.2) | 0.165 | 50 (65.8) | 86 (74.1) | 0.256 | ||
| Diarrhoea | 118 (59.0) | 91 (55.8) | 27 (73.0) | 0.065 | 40 (52.6) | 76 (65.5) | 0.097 | ||
| Abnormal pain | 108 (54.0) | 91 (55.8) | 17 (45.9) | 0.361 | 30 (39.5) | 75 (64.7) | 0.001 | ||
| Wheezing | 98 (49.0) | 75 (46.0) | 23 (62.2) | 0.101 | 30 (39.5) | 64 (55.2) | 0.039 | ||
| Inability to walk | 80 (40.0) | 58 (35.6) | 22 (59.5) | 0.009 | 24 (31.6) | 50 (43.1) | 0.130 | ||
| Runny nose | 68 (34.0) | 55 (33.7) | 13 (35.1) | 0.85 | 24 (31.6) | 41 (35.3) | 0.642 | ||
| Time interval | |||||||||
| Initial symptoms to assessment (days), median (IQR) | 141 (110–162) | 141 (112–163) | 138 (97–150) | 0.106 | 121 (89–158) | 145 (121–163) | 0.001 | ||
| COVID-19-positive to assessment (days), median (IQR) | 71 (41–114) | 68 (35–112) | 105 (59–126) | 0.012 | 60 (43–98) | 78 (34–119) | 0.305 | ||
Data are presented as count (%).
Comparisons between managed at home versus hospitalised and between moderate versus PCS were conducted using Fisher’s exact test
BMI, body mass index; PCS, post-COVID-19 syndrome.