A cohort study of Americans tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection shows that new-onset shortness of breath, heart rhythm abnormalities, and type 2 diabetes were more common 31 to 150 days after testing positive for COVID-19 than among those with negative results.The research was published today in JAMA Network Open.A team led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers examined new signs and symptoms among 144,768 nonhospitalized and 23,933 hospitalized people 20 years and older with a positive COVID-19 test, and 1,227,510 nonhospitalized people with a negative test.
Among the 338,024 people younger than 20 years, 25,327 nonhospitalized and 1,338 hospitalized people tested positive, and 260,660 nonhospitalized and 50,699 hospitalized patients had a negative test result.The team followed the cohorts for 150 days after they were tested for COVID-19.
They used aggregated electronic health record data from 40 healthcare systems on patients tested from March to December 2020.
The team considered a new diagnosis as an emerging sign or symptom that was absent in the 18 months to 7 days before testing.People in the younger age-group who tested positive for COVID-19 were older (ages 13 to 19) than those with negative results (49% vs 35%).