A distinct symptom pattern emerges for COVID-19 long-haul: a nationwide study
Melissa D. Pinto, Charles A. Downs, Yong Huang, Sarah A. El‐Azab, Nathan S. Ramrakhiani, Anthony Barisano, Yu Lu, Kaitlyn Taylor, Álvaro Esperança, Heather L. Abrahim, Thomas Hughes, Maria Giraldo Herrera, Amir M. Rahamani, Nikil Dutt, Rana Chakraborty, Christian Mendiola, Natalie Lambert
Abstract
Abstract Long-haul COVID-19, also called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), is a new illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and characterized by the persistence of symptoms. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify a distinct and significant temporal pattern of PASC symptoms (symptom type and onset) among a nationwide sample of PASC survivors (n = 5652). The sample was randomly sorted into two independent samples for exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Five factors emerged from the EFA: (1) cold and flu-like symptoms, (2) change in smell and/or taste, (3) dyspnea and chest pain, (4) cognitive and visual problems, and (5) cardiac symptoms. The CFA had excellent model fit ( x 2 = 513.721, df = 207, p < 0.01, TLI = 0.952, CFI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.024). These findings demonstrate a novel symptom pattern for PASC. These findings can enable nurses in the identification of at-risk patients and facilitate early, systematic symptom management strategies for PASC.