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Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sought medical care for post-COVID health problems that they had not been diagnosed with before becoming infected with the coronavirus, according to the largest study to date of long-term symptoms in COVID-19 patients.
The study, tracking the health insurance records of nearly 2 million people in the United States who contracted the coronavirus last year, found that one month or more after their infection, almost one-quarter — 23% — of them sought medical treatment for new conditions.
Those affected were all ages, including children. Their most common new health problems were pain, including in nerves and muscles; breathing difficulties; high cholesterol; malaise and fatigue; and high blood pressure. Other issues included intestinal symptoms; migraines; skin problems; heart abnormalities; sleep disorders; and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Post-COVID health problems were common even among people who had not gotten sick from the virus at all, the study found. While nearly half of patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 experienced subsequent medical issues, so did 27% of people who had mild or moderate symptoms and 19% of people who said they were asymptomatic.
"One thing that was surprising to us was the large percentage of asymptomatic patients that are in that category of long COVID," said Robin Gelburd, president of FAIR Health, a nonprofit organization that conducted the study based on what it says is the nation's largest database of private health insurance claims.
More than half of the 1,959,982 patients whose records were evaluated reported no symptoms from their COVID infection. Forty percent had symptoms but didn't require hospitalization, including 1% whose only symptom was loss of taste or smell; only 5% were hospitalized.
Gelburd said the fact that asymptomatic people can have post-COVID symptoms is important to emphasize, so that patients and doctors can know to consider the possibility that some health issues may actually be aftereffects of the coronavirus. "There are some people who may not have even known they had COVID," she said, "but if they continue to present with some of these conditions that are unusual for their health history, it may be worth some further investigation by the medical professional that they're working with."
The report analyzed records of people diagnosed with COVID-19 between February and December 2020, tracking them until February 2021. It found that 454,477 people consulted health providers for symptoms 30 days or more after their infection. FAIR Health said the analysis was evaluated by an independent academic reviewer but was not formally peer-reviewed.
"The strength of this study is really its size and its ability to look across the range of disease severity in a diversity of age groups," said Dr. Helen Chu, an associate professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who was not involved in the report. "This is a hard study to do with that much data."
The report "drives home the point that long COVID can affect nearly every organ system," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of the research and development service at the VA St. Louis Health Care System, who was not involved in the new study.
"Some of these manifestations are chronic conditions that will last a lifetime and will forever scar some individuals and families," added Al-Aly, who was an author of a large study published in April of lingering symptoms in COVID patients in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system.
In the new study, the most common issue for which patients sought medical care was pain — including nerve inflammation and aches and pains associated with nerves and muscles — which was reported by more than 5% of patients or nearly 100,000 people, more than a fifth of those who reported post-COVID problems. Breathing difficulties, including shortness of breath, were experienced by 3.5% of post-COVID patients.
Nearly 3% of patients sought treatment for symptoms that were labeled with diagnostic codes for malaise and fatigue, a far-reaching category that could include issues such as brain fog and exhaustion that gets worse after physical or mental activity — effects that have been reported by many people with long COVID.
The report did not explore connections between other preexisting conditions patients had and their likelihood of developing post-COVID symptoms. But it said that people with intellectual disabilities or those with Alzheimer's disease or dementia had a greater risk of dying 30 days or more after their infection.
Overall, experts said, the report's findings underscore the widespread and varied nature of post-COVID symptoms.
Many post-COVID patients are experiencing new medical problems, study finds
The most common were pain, breathing difficulties, high cholesterol, malaise and fatigue, and high blood pressure.
www.startribune.com
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sought medical care for post-COVID health problems that they had not been diagnosed with before becoming infected with the coronavirus, according to the largest study to date of long-term symptoms in COVID-19 patients.
The study, tracking the health insurance records of nearly 2 million people in the United States who contracted the coronavirus last year, found that one month or more after their infection, almost one-quarter — 23% — of them sought medical treatment for new conditions.
Those affected were all ages, including children. Their most common new health problems were pain, including in nerves and muscles; breathing difficulties; high cholesterol; malaise and fatigue; and high blood pressure. Other issues included intestinal symptoms; migraines; skin problems; heart abnormalities; sleep disorders; and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Post-COVID health problems were common even among people who had not gotten sick from the virus at all, the study found. While nearly half of patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 experienced subsequent medical issues, so did 27% of people who had mild or moderate symptoms and 19% of people who said they were asymptomatic.
"One thing that was surprising to us was the large percentage of asymptomatic patients that are in that category of long COVID," said Robin Gelburd, president of FAIR Health, a nonprofit organization that conducted the study based on what it says is the nation's largest database of private health insurance claims.
More than half of the 1,959,982 patients whose records were evaluated reported no symptoms from their COVID infection. Forty percent had symptoms but didn't require hospitalization, including 1% whose only symptom was loss of taste or smell; only 5% were hospitalized.
Gelburd said the fact that asymptomatic people can have post-COVID symptoms is important to emphasize, so that patients and doctors can know to consider the possibility that some health issues may actually be aftereffects of the coronavirus. "There are some people who may not have even known they had COVID," she said, "but if they continue to present with some of these conditions that are unusual for their health history, it may be worth some further investigation by the medical professional that they're working with."
The report analyzed records of people diagnosed with COVID-19 between February and December 2020, tracking them until February 2021. It found that 454,477 people consulted health providers for symptoms 30 days or more after their infection. FAIR Health said the analysis was evaluated by an independent academic reviewer but was not formally peer-reviewed.
"The strength of this study is really its size and its ability to look across the range of disease severity in a diversity of age groups," said Dr. Helen Chu, an associate professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who was not involved in the report. "This is a hard study to do with that much data."
The report "drives home the point that long COVID can affect nearly every organ system," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of the research and development service at the VA St. Louis Health Care System, who was not involved in the new study.
"Some of these manifestations are chronic conditions that will last a lifetime and will forever scar some individuals and families," added Al-Aly, who was an author of a large study published in April of lingering symptoms in COVID patients in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system.
In the new study, the most common issue for which patients sought medical care was pain — including nerve inflammation and aches and pains associated with nerves and muscles — which was reported by more than 5% of patients or nearly 100,000 people, more than a fifth of those who reported post-COVID problems. Breathing difficulties, including shortness of breath, were experienced by 3.5% of post-COVID patients.
Nearly 3% of patients sought treatment for symptoms that were labeled with diagnostic codes for malaise and fatigue, a far-reaching category that could include issues such as brain fog and exhaustion that gets worse after physical or mental activity — effects that have been reported by many people with long COVID.
The report did not explore connections between other preexisting conditions patients had and their likelihood of developing post-COVID symptoms. But it said that people with intellectual disabilities or those with Alzheimer's disease or dementia had a greater risk of dying 30 days or more after their infection.
Overall, experts said, the report's findings underscore the widespread and varied nature of post-COVID symptoms.
