Table 2 Reported symptoms N (%), self-rated healtha, symptom severitya and impacta by SARS-CoV-2 status 24 months post-test

From: A 24-month National Cohort Study examining long-term effects of COVID-19 in children and young people

 

24 months post-test

 

Initial-negatives (NN)

n = 4534

Negative & infected (NP)

n = 2402

Initial-positives (PN)

n = 5177

Positive & re-infected (PP)

n = 519

p valueb

Number of reported symptoms

0

2093 (46.2)

967 (40.3)

1969 (38.0)

184 (35.5)

<0.001

1

724 (16.0)

406 (16.9)

886 (17.1)

96 (18.5)

 

2

481 (10.6)

272 (11.3)

651 (12.6)

50 (9.6)

 

3

332 (7.3)

183 (7.6)

456 (8.8)

41 (7.9)

 

4

261 (5.8)

149 (6.2)

362 (7.0)

40 (7.7)

 

≥5

643 (14.2)

425 (17.7)

853 (16.5)

108 (20.8)

 

Specific symptoms

Fever

156 (3.4)

102 (4.2)

201 (3.9)

19 (3.7)

0.386

Chills

475 (10.5)

269 (11.2)

620 (12.0)

71 (13.8)

0.040

Persistent cough

517 (11.4)

294 (12.2)

607 (11.7)

64 (12.3)

0.740

Tiredness

1736 (38.3)

1070 (44.6)

2336 (45.1)

249 (48.0)

<0.001

Shortness of breath

838 (18.5)

526 (21.9)

1201 (23.2)

128 (24.7)

<0.001

Loss of smell

112 (2.5)

160 (6.7)

274 (5.3)

38 (7.3)

<0.001

Unusually hoarse voice

143 (3.2)

97 (4.0)

172 (3.3)

13 (2.5)

0.159

Unusual chest pain

246 (5.4)

156 (6.5)

366 (7.1)

49 (9.4)

<0.001

Unusual abdominal pain

156 (3.4)

101 (4.2)

205 (4.0)

25 (4.8)

0.227

Diarrhoea

108 (2.4)

53 (2.2)

129 (2.5)

17 (3.3)

0.532

Headaches

652 (14.4)

379 (15.8)

832 (16.1)

106 (20.4)

0.002

Confusion, disorientation or drowsiness

191 (4.2)

104 (4.3)

276 (5.3)

42 (8.1)

<0.001

Unusual eye-soreness

213 (4.7)

109 (4.5)

260 (5.0)

26 (5.0)

0.785

Skipping meals

342 (7.5)

192 (8.0)

434 (8.4)

52 (10.0)

0.168

Dizziness or light-headedness

416 (9.2)

257 (10.7)

602 (11.6)

73 (14.1)

<0.001

Sore throat

495 (10.9)

283 (11.8)

579 (11.2)

50 (9.63)

0.489

Unusual strong muscle pains

119 (2.6)

110 (4.6)

225 (4.4)

39 (7.5)

<0.001

Earache or ringing in ears

240 (5.3)

150 (6.2)

338 (6.5)

44 (8.5)

0.007

Raised welts on skin or swelling

44 (1.0)

23 (1.0)

62 (1.2)

5 (1.0)

0.667

Red/purple sores/blisters on feet

26 (0.6)

24 (1.0)

54 (1.0)

3 (0.6)

0.057

Sleeping difficulties

1067 (23.5)

654 (27.2)

1406 (27.2)

172 (33.1)

<0.001

Other

175 (3.9)

122 (5.1)

234 (4.5)

25 (4.8)

0.104

Did you/your parent talk to the doctor about your Covid-19 symptoms?

348 (7.7)

249 (10.4)

468 (9.0)

76 (14.6)

<0.001

Did you go to hospital about your Covid-19?

102 (2.3)

73 (3.0)

154 (3.0)

23 (4.4)

0.01

Self-rated healtha

85 (70, 95)

85 (70, 90)

85 (70, 90)

85 (70, 90)

0.888

Symptom severitya,c

50 (30, 70)

50 (30,60)

50 (30, 70)

50 (30, 65)

0.645

Symptom impacta,d

40 (20, 70)

50 (20, 70)

40 (20, 70)

40 (20, 70)

0.104

  1. aReported as median(IQR), scored on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best) for self-rated health; 0 (not severe at all) to 100 (extremely severe) for symptom severity; 0 (no impact) to 100 (extreme impact) for symptom impact.
  2. bp value from chi-squared test of association between SARS-CoV-2 status 24 months post index-test and number of symptoms/specific symptoms and from Mann-Whitney tests between SARS-CoV-2 status 24 months post index-test and self-rated health, symptom severity and symptom impact.
  3. cBased on sub-sample N = 4977.
  4. dBased on sub-sample N = 4972.
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