Only 25% of long-COVID patients were hospitalized for their infectionsThree quarters of US adult and pediatric patients with long COVID were never hospitalized for their infections, and 31% had no preexisting chronic conditions, concludes an observational Fair Health report released yesterday.The New York City-based nonprofit analyzed its collection of private healthcare claims data from 78,252 long-COVID patients from Oct 1, 2021, to Jan 31, 2022.Most patients (75.8%) were never hospitalized for their infections, including 81.6% of females and 67.5% of males, and 30.7% had no underlying medical conditions.
Of all long-COVID patients, 34.6% were in the 36- to 50-year-old age-group, and 59.8% were female.The most common long-COVID symptoms, regardless of age or sex, were breathing problems (23.2%), cough (18.9%), and fatigue and malaise (16.7%).
Distribution of certain conditions varied by age-group, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in those aged 0 to 12, abnormal heart rhythms in 13- to 22-year-olds, generalized anxiety disorder in 23- to 35-year-olds, and high blood pressure in those 65 and older.The rate of other and unspecified weakness of the voluntary muscles was 11.1 times higher than that in the same population before COVID-19 infection, while blood clots in the lungs occurred 2.6 times more often, and brain disorders such as post-viral fatigue syndrome were diagnosed twice as often.
Long-COVID patients of all ages were also at elevated risk for higher healthcare use and costs."We hope these findings prove helpful for all individuals diagnosed with post-COVID conditions, as well as for providers, payors, policy makers and researchers," Fair Health President Robin Gelburd, JD, said in