Post-COVID-19 Symptoms Are Common, Affecting 23.2 Percent

50 percent of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 19 percent of asymptomatic patients had at least one post-COVID-19 condition

MONDAY, June 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Post-COVID-19 conditions are common among patients diagnosed with COVID-19, and occur in 19 percent of asymptomatic patients, according to a white paper issued by FAIR Health and published online June 15.

FAIR Health studied 1,959,982 COVID-19 patients for the prevalence of post-COVID-19 conditions at 30 days or more after initial diagnosis using longitudinal data from a database of over 34 billion private health care claim records.

The researchers found that 23.2 percent of the patients who had COVID-19 had at least one post-COVID-19 condition. Post-COVID-19 conditions occurred in 50, 27.5, and 19 percent of patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19, symptomatic but not hospitalized, and asymptomatic, respectively. Across all ages, the most common post-COVID-19 conditions were pain, breathing difficulties, hyperlipidemia, malaise, and fatigue; there was variation in the ranking of these conditions by age group. Most of the post-COVID-19 conditions that were evaluated occurred more often in females than males; however, 12 conditions were more common among males, including post-COVID-19 cardiac inflammation. Of the four mental health conditions examined, anxiety was seen most often in all age groups. Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and discharged had significantly increased odds of death 30 days or more after initial diagnosis with COVID-19 (odds ratio, 46.020).

“The findings in our new study shed significant light on this emerging issue for all individuals who have long-haul COVID, as well as for policy makers, providers, payors, and researchers,” Robin Gelburd, the president of FAIR Health, said in a statement.

FAIR Health White Paper