Table 1 Characteristics of emergency department patients at the time of index visit by SARS-CoV-2 and Post-COVID-19 Condition (PCC) status three months later (N = 6723)

From: Post-COVID-19 condition symptoms among emergency department patients tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection

Variables a

SARS-CoV-2 Positive (n = 3933)

SARS-CoV-2 Negative (n = 2790)

Without PCC symptoms (n = 2401)

With PCC symptoms (n = 1532)

P-value b

Without PCC symptoms (n = 2212)

With PCC symptoms (n = 578)

P-value b

Age (in years), mean (SD)

49.7 (17.0)

52.3 (16.2)

<0.001

59.3 (18.5)

60.9 (17.3)

0.06

Sex, No./total (%)

 Female

1045/2401 (43.5)

871/1532 (56.8)

<0.001

1187/2212 (53.7)

302/578 (52.3)

0.54

Pandemic period, No./total (%)

 Prior to omicron variant (October 16, 2020, to November 27, 2021)

2078/2401 (86.5)

1297/1532 (84.7)

0.10

2108/2212 (95.3)

526/578 (91.0)

<0.001

 During omicron (November 28, 2021, to February 28, 2022)

323/2401 (13.5)

235/1532 (15.3)

104/2212 (4.7)

52/578 (9.0)

Self-reported race, No./total (%)

 Arab/Middle Eastern

208/2401 (8.7)

140/1532 (9.1)

<0.001

69/2122 (3.1)

38/578 (6.6)

0.002

 Black

156/2401 (6.5)

84/1532 (5.5)

80/2122 (3.6)

19/578 (3.3)

 East/Southeast Asian

205/2401 (8.5)

114/1532 (7.4)

167/2122 (7.5)

51/578 (8.8)

 Indigenous

58/2401 (2.4)

38/1532 (2.5)

34/2122 (1.5)

13/578 (2.2)

 Latin American

63/2401 (2.6)

58/1532 (3.8)

30/2122 (1.4)

10/578 (1.7)

 South Asian

502/2401 (20.9)

136/1532 (8.9)

79/2122 (3.6)

28/578 (4.8)

 White

1012/2401 (42.1)

851/1532 (55.5)

1587/2122 (71.7)

374/578 (64.7)

 Other

44/2401 (1.8)

16/1532 (1)

15/2122 (0.7)

6/578 (1.0)

 Unknown

153/2401 (6.4)

95/1532 (6.2)

151/2122 (6.8)

39/578 (6.7)

ED arrival by ambulance, No./total (%)

 Self

1567/2401 (65.3)

925/1532 (60.4)

0.002

1492/2212 (67.5)

362/578 (62.6)

0.03

 Ambulance

834/2401 (34.7)

607/1532 (39.6)

720/2212 (32.6)

216/578 (37.4)

Comorbidities documented during ED index visit, No./total (%)

 Hypertension

580/2401 (24.2)

432/1532 (28.2)

0.006

830/2212 (37.5)

247/578 (42.7)

0.02

 Diabetes

371/2401 (15.5)

255/1532 (16.6)

0.32

374/2212 (16.9)

113/578 (19.6)

0.14

 Asthma

210/2401 (8.7)

179/1532 (11.7)

0.003

178/2212 (8)

58/578 (10)

0.13

 Mental health diagnosis

189/2401 (7.9)

176/1532 (11.5)

<0.001

382/2212 (17.3)

97/578 (16.8)

0.78

 Coronary artery disease

94/2401 (3.9)

105/1532 (6.9)

<0.001

240/2212 (10.8)

76/578 (13.1)

0.12

 Rheumatologic disorder

94/2401 (3.9)

101/1532 (6.6)

<0.001

287/2212 (13)

76/578 (13.1)

0.91

 Chronic lung disease

59/2401 (2.5)

68/1532 (4.4)

0.001

199/2212 (9)

54/578 (9.3)

0.8

 Obesity

62/2401 (2.6)

67/1532 (4.4)

0.002

65/2212 (2.9)

12/578 (2.1)

0.26

 Chronic kidney disease

62/2401 (2.6)

51/1532 (3.3)

0.17

123/2212 (5.6)

31/578 (5.4)

0.85

 Active cancer

87/2401 (3.6)

40/1532 (2.6)

0.08

185/2212 (8.4)

57/578 (9.9)

0.26

 Heart failure

38/2401 (1.6)

33/1532 (2.2)

0.19

75/2212 (3.4)

28/578 (4.8)

0.09

 Organ transplant

25/2401 (1.0)

8/1532 (0.5)

0.08

25/2212 (1.1)

12/578 (2.1)

0.08

Acute COVID-19 symptoms reported during ED index visitc. No./total (%)

 Cough

1512/2401 (63.0)

1006/1532 (65.7)

0.09

268/2212 (12.1)

84/578 (14.5)

0.12

 Dyspnea

1291/2401 (53.8)

936/1532 (61.1)

<0.001

529/2212 (23.9)

154/578 (26.6)

0.14

 Fever

1175/2401 (48.9)

729/1532 (47.6)

0.41

311/2212 (14.1)

68/578 (11.8)

0.05

 Chills

802/2401 (33.4)

661/1532 (43.1)

<0.001

174/2212 (7.9)

46/578 (8.0)

0.94

 General weakness

802/2401 (33.4)

569/1532 (37.1)

0.02

433/2212 (19.6)

128/578 (22.1)

0.17

 Chest pain

543/2401 (22.6)

385/1532 (25.1)

0.07

584/2212 (26.4)

167/578 (28.9)

0.23

 Abdominal pain

537/2401 (22.4)

374/1532 (24.4)

0.14

484/2212 (21.9)

111/578 (19.2)

0.16

 Diarrhea

412/2401 (17.2)

332/1532 (21.7)

<0.001

221/2212 (10.0)

39/578 (6.7)

0.02

 Nausea/vomiting

499/2401 (20.8)

319/1532 (20.8)

0.97

504/2212 (22.8)

135/578 (23.4)

0.77

 Headache

619/2401 (25.8)

278/1532 (18.1)

<0.001

249/2212 (11.3)

69/578 (11.9)

0.65

 Rhinorrhea

305/2401 (12.7)

222/1532 (14.5)

0.11

46/2212 (2.1)

11/578 (1.9)

0.79

 Myalgia/Arthralgia

248/2401 (10.3)

148/1532 (9.7)

0.49

76/2212 (3.4)

22/578 (3.8)

0.67

 Sore throat

143/2401 (6.0)

137/1532 (8.9)

<0.001

100/2212 (4.5)

26/578 (4.5)

0.98

 Altered mental status

120/2401 (5.0)

84/1532 (5.5)

0.50

196/2212 (8.9)

66/578 (11.4)

0.60

 Dysgeusia/anosmia

117/2401 (4.9)

81/1532 (5.3)

0.56

7/2212 (0.3)

<5

0.91

Admission status during ED index visit, No./total (%)

 Not admitted

1690/2401 (70.4)

1016/1532 (66.3)

<0.001

1221/2212 (55.2)

244/578 (42.2)

<0.001

 Admitted to ward

583/2401 (24.3)

734/1532 (24.4)

940/2212 (42.5)

305/578 (52.8)

 Admitted to ICU

128/2401 (5.3)

142/1532 (9.3)

51/2212 (2.3)

29/578 (5.0)

Hospital medications, No./total (%)

 Dexamethasone

378/2401 (15.7)

297/1532 (19.4)

0.003

66/2212 (3.0)

33/578 (5.7)

0.002

Self-reported doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine received before ED index visitc, No./total (%)

 None

1917/2401 (79.8)

1190/1532 (77.7)

0.14

1430/2122 (64.7)

342/578 (59.3)

0.03

 1

232/2401 (9.7)

162/1532 (10.6)

521/2122 (23.6)

143/578 (24.7)

 2 or more

227/2401 (9.5)

170/1532 (11.1)

260/2122 (11.7)

92/578 (15.9)

 Unknown

25/2401 (1.0)

10/1532 (0.7)

<5

<5

Self-reported education level, No./total (%)

 None

197/2401 (8.2)

98/1532 (6.4)

0.003

173/2122 (7.8)

33/578 (5.7)

0.02

 High school diploma

555/2401 (23.1)

362/1532 (23.6)

485/2122 (21.9)

112/578 (19.4)

 Trade certification or diploma

136/2401 (5.7)

115/1532 (7.5)

156/2122 (7.1)

34/578 (5.9)

 University certificate or diploma

254/2401 (10.6)

127/1532 (8.3)

188/2122 (8.5)

62/578 (10.7)

 University bachelor level or above

1137/2401 (47.4)

772/1532 (50.4)

1078/2122 (48.7)

214/578 (54.3)

 Unknown

122/2401 (5.1)

58/1532 (3.8)

132/2122 (6.0)

23/578 (4.0)

Self-reported perceived level of fitness at baseline d, No./total (%)

 Fit and well

1545/2401 (64.4)

828/1532 (54.1)

<0.001

847/2122 (38.3)

176/578 (30.5)

<0.001

 Managing well

680/2401 (28.3)

586/1532 (38.3)

1061/2122 (48.0)

308/578 (53.3)

 Frail

100/2401 (4.2)

87/1532 (5.7)

243/2122 (11.0)

68/578 (11.8)

 Unknown

76/2401 (3.2)

31/1532 (2.0)

61/2122 (2.8)

26/578 (4.5)

  1. SARS-CoV-2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2, ED emergency department, SD standard deviation, ICU intensive care unit.
  2. aVariables extracted through chart review were: age, sex, pandemic period, ED arrival by ambulance, comorbidities, acute COVID-19 symptoms, admission status, hospital medications. All other variables were self-reported by patients during phone follow-up: race, number of vaccine doses before ED visit, education level, perceived level of fitness at baseline. Data on self-reported gender is presented in Supplementary Tables 1, 2. Data on the type of vaccine administered for patients reporting two or more vaccine doses is presented in Supplementary Table 4. Data about the number of days between the last vaccine dose and the index ED visit for participants reporting two or more vaccine doses is reported in Supplementary Table 5.
  3. bP-value comparing patients with PCC symptoms and patients without PCC symptoms stratified by SARS-CoV-2 status. P-values were calculated using two-sided T-tests for continuous variables and one-sided unadjusted Pearson’s chi-squared tests for categorical variables.
  4. cData confidentiality policies prevented reporting counts <5.
  5. dThe perceived level of fitness variable and questionnaire item was developed in collaboration with patient partners and rehabilitation experts based on a published patient-reported outcome questionnaire89. “Fit and well” was defined as exercising occasionally or regularly and had no medical problems. “Managing well” was defined as having some medical problems that limited regular activities but didn’t require help. “Frail” was defined as having medical problems that limited regular activities and needed help with daily activities and personal care.
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