Demographics and characteristics
| 6 months | 12 months | |||||||||
| Overall cohort n=534 | CMR abnormalities n=102 | No CMR abnormalities n=424 | P value | CMR abnormalities and hospitalised n=19 | CMR abnormalities and non-hospitalised n=83 | P value | Ongoing CMR abnormalities n=41 | Resolved cardiac function n=30 | P value | |
| Demographics | ||||||||||
| Age (median (IQR) or mean (SD)) | 44 (38–52) | 43 (37–51) | 44 (38–52) | 0.41 | 45 (41–53) | 41 (35–51) | 0.2 | 45 (13) | 48 (12) | 0.22 |
| Sex (% male) | 147 (28%) | 42 (41%) | 103 (24%) | 0.001 | 11 (58%) | 31 (37%) | 0.1 | 19 (46%) | 11 (37%) | 0.41 |
| BMI kg/m2 (median (IQR)) | 25.5 (22.6– 29.3) | 26.3 (23.1–29.0) | 25.3 (22.6–29.4) | 0.28 | 28.0 (23.4–32.0) | 26.0 (23.0–28.4) | 0.31 | 25.6 (23.4–28.4) | 27.4 (24.5–33.8) | 0.09 |
| BMI ≥25 to <30 kg/m2 (%) | 172 (32%) | 38 (37%) | 131 (31%) | 0.22 | 7 (37%) | 31 (37%) | 0.97 | 15 (37%) | 11 (37%) | 0.99 |
| BMI ≥30 kg/m2 (%) | 119 (22%) | 23 (23%) | 96 (23%) | 0.98 | 6 (32%) | 17 (20%) | 0.36 | 8 (20%) | 10 (33%) | 0.19 |
| Hypertension (%) | 44 (8.2%) | 12 (12%) | 32 (7.5%) | 0.17 | 2 (11%) | 10 (12%) | 1 | 5 (12%) | 6 (20%) | 0.51 |
| Diabetes (%) | 10 (1.9%) | 3 (2.9%) | 7 (1.7%) | 0.42 | 0 (0%) | 3 (3.6%) | 1 | 2 (4.9%) | 0 (0%) | 0.51 |
| Asthma (%) | 101 (19%) | 22 (22%) | 78 (18%) | 0.46 | 4 (21%) | 18 (22%) | 1 | 9 (100%) | 5 (100%) | 1 |
| Previous heart disease | 9 (1.7%) | 2 (2%) | 7 (1.7%) | 0.82 | 0 (0%) | 2 (2.4%) | 0.49 | 1 (2.4%) | 0 (0%) | 0.38 |
| Ethnicity (%): white | 475 (89%) | 88 (86%) | 382 (90%) | 0.57 | 14 (74%) | 74 (89%) | 0.16 | 38 (93%) | 23 (77%) | 0.02 |
| Asian | 24 (4.5%) | 7 (6.9%) | 16 (3.8%) | 3 (16%) | 4 (4.8%) | 1 (2.4%) | 6 (20%) | |||
| Black | 13 (2.4%) | 3 (2.9%) | 9 (2.1%) | 1 (5.3%) | 2 (2.4%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3.3%) | |||
| Mix | 21 (3.9%) | 4 (3.9%) | 16 (3.8%) | 0.15 | 1 (5.3%) | 3 (3.6%) | 0.68 | 2 (4.9%) | 0 (0%) | 0.9 |
| Other | 1 (0.2%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0.2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | |||
| Smoking status (%): current | 348 (65%) | 5 (4.9%) | 7 (1.7%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (6.0%) | 2 (4.9%) | 1 (3.3%) | |||
| Never | 13 (2.4%) | 66 (65%) | 275 (65%) | 14 (74%) | 52 (63%) | 31 (76%) | 22 (73%) | |||
| Past | 172 (32%) | 31 (30%) | 141 (33%) | 5 (26%) | 26 (31%) | 8 (20%) | 7 (23%) | |||
| Time from first symptom to scan (median (IQR)) | 182 (132–221) | 162 (118–213) | 183 (140–223) | 0.05 | 141 (77) | 173 (72) | 0.12 | 359 (339–394) | 380 (323–422) | 0.27 |
| Severity | ||||||||||
| Hospitalisation at the acute stage (%) | 72 (14%) | 19 (19%) | 51 (12%) | 0.08 | 100 (100%) | 0 (0%) | – | 7 (17%) | 9 (30%) | 0.2 |
| Long COVID severity from questionnaires (%): | ||||||||||
| Mild | 175 (34%) | 38 (38%) | 135 (33%) | 0.38 | 11 (58%) | 27 (33%) | 0.047 | 20 (54%) | 13 (45%) | 0.46 |
| Severe | 338 (66%) | 62 (62%) | 270 (67%) | 8 (42%) | 54 (67%) | 17 (46%) | 16 (55%) | |||
| Self-reported symptom severity (%): critical | 11 (2.1%) | 1 (1.0%) | 9 (2.1%) | 0.23 | 1 (5.3%) | 0 (0%) | 0.01 | 16 (39%) | 9 (30%) | 0.6 |
| Mild | 42 (7.9%) | 13 (13%) | 29 (6.9%) | 0 (0%) | 13 (16%) | 11 (27%) | 7 (23%) | |||
| Moderate | 232 (44%) | 44 (44%) | 186 (44%) | 5 (26%) | 39 (48%) | 14 (34%) | 13 (43%) | |||
| Severe | 246 (46%) | 43 (43%) | 198 (47%) | 13 (68%) | 30 (37%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3.3%) | |||
| EQ-5D-5L quality of life (Utility score) (median (IQR)) | 0.67 (0.49–0.77) | 0.66 (0.43–0.77) | 0.68 (0.50–0.77) | 0.66 | 0.74 (0.57–0.81) | 0.65 (0.42–0.77) | 0.08 | 0.72 (0.55–0.81) | 0.71 (0.33–0.84) | 0.89 |
| Dyspnoea 12 score (median (IQR)) | 6 (2–14) | 6 (2–12) | 7 (2–14) | 0.43 | 4 (2–8) | 6 (2–13) | 0.52 | 4 (2–11) | 4 (1–11) | 0.91 |
| LVD-36 (average, SD) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 39% (31.3) | 36% (28.3) | 0.67 |
| Time off work (median (IQR)) | 56 (14–180) | 60 (21–180) | 56 (14–180) | 0.55 | NA | 124.8 (129.6) | – | 96 (35–270) | 135 (40–302) | 0.45 |
| Vaccination status (vaccinated at least one dose-%) | 10 (1.9%) | 2 (2%) | 8 (1.9%) | 0.96 | 0 (0%) | 2 (2.4%) | 0.5 | 19 (46.3%) | 18 (60%) | 0.25 |
| Multiorgan impairment | ||||||||||
| No organ impairment (%) | 227 (43%) | 0 (0%) | 222 (52%) | <0.001 | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 | 0 (0%) | 16 (53%) | <0.001 |
| ≥2 organs impaired (%) | 118 (22%) | 47 (46%) | 69 (16%) | <0.001 | 11 (58%) | 36 (43%) | 0.3 | 20 (49%) | 4 (13%) | 0.002 |
| ≥3 organs impaired (%) | 38 (7.1%) | 14 (14%) | 24 (5.7%) | 0.005 | 6 (32%) | 8 (9.6%) | 0.02 | 5 (12%) | 1 (3.3%) | 0.39 |
| Symptoms | ||||||||||
| No of symptoms (median, IQR) | 97 11 | 10 (8,11) | 10 (8,11) | 1 | 10 (8,11.5) | 10 (8.5, 11) | 0.44 | 2 (0,5) | 4 (0,6) | 0.26 |
| Fever (%) | 374 (70%) | 69 (68%) | 299 (71%) | 0.62 | 15 (79%) | 54 (66%) | 0.27 | 1 (2.4%) | 2 (7%) | 0.57 |
| Cough (%) | 397 (75%) | 81 (80%) | 312 (74%) | 0.19 | 16 (84%) | 65 (79%) | 0.76 | 2 (4.9%) | 9 (30%) | 0.01 |
| Sore throat (%) | 379 (71%) | 70 (69%) | 302 (72%) | 0.65 | 11 (58%) | 59 (72%) | 0.23 | 6 (15%) | 5 (17%) | 1 |
| Runny nose (%) | 175 (33%) | 35 (35%) | 137 (32%) | 0.67 | 9 (47%) | 26 (32%) | 0.2 | 2 (4.9%) | 4 (13%) | 0.23 |
| Wheezing (%) | 268 (50%) | 51 (50%) | 214 (51%) | 0.97 | 15 (79%) | 36 (44%) | 0.01 | 4 (9.8%) | 1 (3.3%) | 0.39 |
| Chest pain (%) | 435 (82%) | 82 (81%) | 347 (82%) | 0.81 | 15 (79%) | 67 (82%) | 0.75 | 14 (34%) | 12 (40%) | 0.61 |
| Muscle aches (%) | 472 (89%) | 81 (80%) | 384 (91%) | 0.002 | 14 (74%) | 67 (82%) | 0.52 | 13 (32%) | 11 (37%) | 0.66 |
| Joint pain (%) | 394 (74%) | 69 (68%) | 319 (76%) | 0.13 | 11 (58%) | 58 (71%) | 0.28 | 12 (29%) | 11 (37%) | 0.51 |
| Fatigue or Malaise (%) | 522 (98%) | 101 (100%) | 413 (98%) | 0.22 | 19 (100%) | 82 (100%) | 1 | 20 (49%) | 19 (63%) | 0.22 |
| Shortness of breath (%) | 473 (89%) | 89 (88%) | 377 (89%) | 0.72 | 19 (100%) | 70 (85%) | 0.12 | 13 (32%) | 16 (53%) | 0.07 |
| Inability to walk (%) | 177 (33%) | 41 (41%) | 132 (31%) | 0.07 | 10 (53%) | 31 (38%) | 0.24 | 2 (4.9%) | 0 (0%) | 0.51 |
| Headache (%) | 446 (84%) | 84 (83%) | 356 (84%) | 0.77 | 13 (68%) | 71 (87%) | 0.08 | 13 (32%) | 10 (33%) | 0.89 |
| Seizures (%) | 5 (0.9%) | 1 (1.0%) | 4 (0.9%) | 1 | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.2%) | 1 | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 |
| Abdominal pain (%) | 285 (54%) | 59 (58%) | 221 (52%) | 0.27 | 10 (53%) | 49 (60%) | 0.57 | 6 (15%) | 5 (17%) | 1 |
| Diarrhoea (%) | 304 (57%) | 59 (58%) | 242 (57%) | 0.85 | 12 (63%) | 47 (57%) | 0.64 | 5 (12%) | 5 (17%) | 0.73 |
Characteristics for overall population, CMR abnormalities versus no CMR abnormalities at 6 and 12 months in individuals with Long Covid. Values are presented as mean (SD) and p values calculated with t-test when the data were normally distributed. For variables where data were not normally distributed data are presented with median (IQR) and p values are calculated with Wilcoxon rank sum test. p ≤0.05 are in bold.
BMI, body mass index; CMR, cardiac MR; LVD-36, Left Ventricular Dysfunction Questionnaire.