Romero-Duarte, ÁlvaroRivera-Izquierdo, MarioGuerrero-Fernández de Alba, InmaculadaPérez-Contreras, MarinaFernández-Martínez, Nicolás FranciscoRuiz-Montero, RafaelSerrano-Ortiz, ÁlvaroOrtiz González-Serna, RocíoSalcedo-Leal, InmaculadaJiménez-Mejías, EladioCárdenas-Cruz, Antonio2022-10-062022-10-062021-05-20Romero-Duarte Á, Rivera-Izquierdo M, Guerrero-Fernández de Alba I, Pérez-Contreras M, Fernández-Martínez NF, Ruiz-Montero R, et al. Sequelae, persistent symptomatology and outcomes after COVID-19 hospitalization: the ANCOHVID multicentre 6-month follow-up study. BMC Med. 2021 May 20;19(1):129.http://hdl.handle.net/10668/4236Background Long-term effects of COVID-19, also called Long COVID, affect more than 10% of patients. The most severe cases (i.e. those requiring hospitalization) present a higher frequency of sequelae, but detailed information on these effects is still lacking. The objective of this study is to identify and quantify the frequency and outcomes associated with the presence of sequelae or persistent symptomatology (SPS) during the 6 months after discharge for COVID-19. Methods Retrospective observational 6-month follow-up study conducted in four hospitals of Spain. A cohort of all 969 patients who were hospitalized with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 from March 1 to April 15, 2020, was included. We collected all the SPS during the 6 months after discharge reported by patients during follow-up from primary care records. Cluster analyses were performed to validate the measures. The main outcome measures were return to the Emergency Services, hospital readmission and post-discharge death. Surviving patients’ outcomes were collected through clinical histories and primary care reports. Multiple logistic regression models were applied. Results The 797 (82.2%) patients who survived constituted the sample followed, while the rest died from COVID-19. The mean age was 63.0 years, 53.7% of them were men and 509 (63.9%) reported some sequelae during the first 6 months after discharge. These sequelae were very diverse, but the most frequent were respiratory (42.0%), systemic (36.1%), neurological (20.8%), mental health (12.2%) and infectious (7.9%) SPS, with some differences by sex. Women presented higher frequencies of headache and mental health SPS, among others. A total of 160 (20.1%) patients returned to the Emergency Services, 35 (4.4%) required hospital readmission and 8 (1.0%) died during follow-up. The main factors independently associated with the return to Emergency Services were persistent fever, dermatological SPS, arrythmia or palpitations, thoracic pain and pneumonia. Conclusions COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization during the first wave of the pandemic developed a significant range of mid- to long-term SPS. A detailed list of symptoms and outcomes is provided in this multicentre study. Identification of possible factors associated with these SPS could be useful to optimize preventive follow-up strategies in primary care for the coming months of the pandemic.enAtribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/COVID-19Long COVIDPost-dischargeSequelaePersistent symptomsPrimary careFollow-upHospital readmissionMental healthHospitalizationComplicacionesSignos y síntomasAtención primaria de saludReadmisión del pacienteSalud mentalHospitalizaciónEstadísticas de secuelas y discapacidadMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::AdultMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Therapeutics::Patient Care::AftercareMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::AgedMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Aged::Aged, 80 and overMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Virus Diseases::RNA Virus Infections::Nidovirales Infections::Coronaviridae Infections::Coronavirus InfectionsMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cohort StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms::Pathologic Processes::Disease Attributes::Disease ProgressionMedical Subject Headings::Check Tags::FemaleMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cohort Studies::Longitudinal Studies::Follow-Up StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Therapeutics::Patient Care::HospitalizationMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Primates::Haplorhini::Catarrhini::Hominidae::HumansMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cohort Studies::Longitudinal StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Check Tags::MaleMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Middle AgedMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Environment and Public Health::Public Health::Disease Outbreaks::Epidemics::PandemicsMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Therapeutics::Patient Care::Hospitalization::Patient DischargeMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Therapeutics::Patient Care::Hospitalization::Patient ReadmissionMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cohort Studies::Retrospective StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Geographical Locations::Geographic Locations::Europe::SpainMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Young AdultMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Models, Theoretical::Models, Statistical::Logistic ModelsMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Mental HealthMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Health Care Facilities, Manpower, and Services::Health Facilities::HospitalsMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Cluster AnalysisMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Health Services Administration::Quality of Health Care::Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care)::Outcome Assessment (Health Care)Medical Subject Headings::Diseases::Cardiovascular Diseases::Heart Diseases::Arrhythmias, CardiacMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms::Signs and Symptoms::Neurologic Manifestations::Pain::HeadacheMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms::Signs and Symptoms::PainMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Genetic Techniques::Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques::Polymerase Chain Reactionresearch article34011359open access10.1186/s12916-021-02003-71741-7015PMC8134820