TY - JOUR
T1 - A Cross-Sectional Study of the Health of Emerging Young Adults in England Following a COVID-19 Infection
AU - Newlands, Fiona
AU - Rojas, Natalia K.
AU - Nugawela, Manjula
AU - Pinto Pereira, Snehal M.
AU - Buszewicz, Marta
AU - Chalder, Trudie
AU - Cheung, Emily Y.
AU - Dalrymple, Emma
AU - Ford, Tamsin
AU - Heyman, Isobel
AU - Ladhani, Shamez N.
AU - McOwat, Kelsey
AU - Simmons, Ruth
AU - Stephenson, Terence
AU - Shafran, Roz
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - Purpose: This study describes long COVID symptomatology in a national sample of 18- to 20-year-olds with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-confirmed Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) and matched test-negative controls in England. Symptoms in 18- to 20-year-olds were compared to symptoms in younger adolescents (aged 11–17 years) and all adults (18+). Methods: A national database was used to identify SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive 18- to 20-year-olds and test-negative controls matched by time of test, age, gender, and geographical region. Participants were invited to complete a questionnaire about their health retrospectively at time of test and also when completing the questionnaire. Comparison cohorts included children and young people with long COVID and REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission studies. Results: Of 14,986 people invited, 1,001 were included in the analysis (562 test-positive; 440 test-negative). At testing, 46.5% of test-positives and 16.4% of test-negatives reported at least one symptom. At the time of questionnaire completion (median 7 months post-testing), 61.5% of test-positives and 47.5% of test-negatives reported one or more symptoms. The most common symptoms were similar amongst test-positives and test-negatives and included tiredness (44.0%; 35.7%), shortness of breath (28.8%; 16.3%), and headaches (13.7%; 12.0%). Prevalence rates were similar to those reported by 11–17-year-olds (66.5%) and higher than those reported in all adults (37.7%). For 18- to 20-year-olds, there was no significant difference in health-related quality of life and well-being (p > .05). However, test-positives reported being significantly more tired than test-negatives (p = .04). Discussion: Seven months after PCR test, a high proportion of test-positive and test-negative 18- to 20-year-olds reported similar symptoms to each other and to those experienced by younger and older counterparts.
AB - Purpose: This study describes long COVID symptomatology in a national sample of 18- to 20-year-olds with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-confirmed Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) and matched test-negative controls in England. Symptoms in 18- to 20-year-olds were compared to symptoms in younger adolescents (aged 11–17 years) and all adults (18+). Methods: A national database was used to identify SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive 18- to 20-year-olds and test-negative controls matched by time of test, age, gender, and geographical region. Participants were invited to complete a questionnaire about their health retrospectively at time of test and also when completing the questionnaire. Comparison cohorts included children and young people with long COVID and REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission studies. Results: Of 14,986 people invited, 1,001 were included in the analysis (562 test-positive; 440 test-negative). At testing, 46.5% of test-positives and 16.4% of test-negatives reported at least one symptom. At the time of questionnaire completion (median 7 months post-testing), 61.5% of test-positives and 47.5% of test-negatives reported one or more symptoms. The most common symptoms were similar amongst test-positives and test-negatives and included tiredness (44.0%; 35.7%), shortness of breath (28.8%; 16.3%), and headaches (13.7%; 12.0%). Prevalence rates were similar to those reported by 11–17-year-olds (66.5%) and higher than those reported in all adults (37.7%). For 18- to 20-year-olds, there was no significant difference in health-related quality of life and well-being (p > .05). However, test-positives reported being significantly more tired than test-negatives (p = .04). Discussion: Seven months after PCR test, a high proportion of test-positive and test-negative 18- to 20-year-olds reported similar symptoms to each other and to those experienced by younger and older counterparts.
KW - Emerging adults
KW - Long COVID
KW - Symptoms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151634636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.026
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.026
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85151634636
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 73
SP - 20
EP - 28
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 1
ER -