• Florian Desgranges, Eliana Tadini, Aline Munting, Jean Regina, Paraskevas Filippidis, Benjamin Viala, Eleftherios Karachalias, Véronique Suttels, David Haefliger, Eleftheria Kampouri, Mathias Van Singer, Jonathan Tschopp, Laurence Rochat Stettler, Siméon Schaad, Thomas Brahier, Olivier Hugli, Yolanda Mueller, Alexandre Gouveia, Onya Opota, Pierre-Nicolas Carron, Benoît Guery, Matthaios Papadimitriou-Olivgeris, Noémie Boillat-Blanco, and , the RegCOVID Research Group.
• Service of Infectious Diseases, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 46, CH-1011, Lausanne, Switzerland. florian.desgranges@chuv.ch.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Jun 1; 37 (8): 194319521943-1952.

BackgroundAfter mild COVID-19, some outpatients experience persistent symptoms. However, data are scarce and prospective studies are urgently needed.ObjectivesTo characterize the post-COVID-19 syndrome after mild COVID-19 and identify predictors.ParticipantsOutpatients with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 with (1) PCR-confirmed COVID-19 (COVID-positive) or (2) SARS-CoV-2 negative PCR (COVID-negative).DesignMonocentric cohort study with prospective phone interview between more than 3 months to 10 months after initial visit to the emergency department and outpatient clinics.Main MeasuresData of the initial visits were extracted from the electronic medical file. Predefined persistent symptoms were assessed through a structured phone interview. Associations between long-term symptoms and PCR results, as well as predictors of persistent symptoms among COVID-positive, were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression adjusted for age, gender, smoking, comorbidities, and timing of the survey.Key ResultsThe study population consisted of 418 COVID-positive and 89 COVID-negative patients, mostly young adults (median age of 41 versus 36 years in COVID-positive and COVID-negative, respectively; p = 0.020) and healthcare workers (67% versus 82%; p = 0.006). Median time between the initial visit and the phone survey was 150 days in COVID-positive and 242 days in COVID-negative patients. Persistent symptoms were reported by 223 (53%) COVID-positive and 33 (37%) COVID-negative patients (p = 0.006) and proportions were stable among the periods of the phone interviews. Overall, 21% COVID-positive and 15% COVID-negative patients (p = 0.182) attended care for this purpose. Four surveyed symptoms were independently associated with COVID-19: fatigue (adjusted odds ratio 2.14, 95% CI 1.04-4.41), smell/taste disorder (26.5, 3.46-202), dyspnea (2.81, 1.10-7.16), and memory impairment (5.71, 1.53-21.3). Among COVID-positive, female gender (1.67, 1.09-2.56) and overweight/obesity (1.67, 1.10-2.56) were predictors of persistent symptoms.ConclusionsMore than half of COVID-positive outpatients report persistent symptoms up to 10 months after a mild disease. Only 4 of 14 symptoms were associated with COVID-19 status. The symptoms and predictors of the post-COVID-19 syndrome need further characterization as this condition places a significant burden on society.© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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