Long-term symptom burden in a young, ambulatory cohort after the omicron outbreak in China

At the end of 2022, an outbreak of the Omicron BF.7 and BA.5.2 subvariants of SARS-CoV-2 occurred in China. In this prospective cohort study, we investigated the pattern of development of major symptom burden and influencing factors in infected Chinese patients.

First-time infected outpatients were enrolled from December 7, 2022, to January 11, 2023 (N = 355). The prevalence of symptoms was monitored by a repeated patient-reported quantitative symptom survey over nine months.

At the onset of the infection, the most prevalent symptoms (score ≥1 on a 0-10 numeric rating scale) were fatigue (91.8%), cough (91.8%), and sore throat (91.5%) among 33 symptoms monitored. Patients with higher scores for symptom Cluster II (lack of appetite, disturbed sleep, shivering, drowsiness, sweating, nausea, depression, and anxiety) and symptom cluster V (fatigue, sore throat, dry mouth, and dizziness) reported poorer quality of life than other patients during the first month after enrolment. The most severe symptoms (score≥7) lasted during 3-9 months were depression (5.2%), fatigue (4.8%), anxiety (4.8%), runny nose (4.3%), muscle or joint pain (3.3%), nasal congestion (3.0%), disturbed sleep(2.6%). Younger age, female sex, and body mass index of at least 24 kg/m² predicted more severe baseline symptoms and slower resolution (all p < 0.01).

This cohort study identified patterns and characteristics of symptom evolution in outpatients at 9 months post-COVID-19 diagnosis and provides targets for long-term care.