ABSTRACT
BackgroundThe global prevalence of PASC is estimated to be present in 0{middle dot}43 and based on the WHO estimation of 470 million worldwide COVID-19 infections, corresponds to around 200 million people experiencing long COVID symptoms. Despite this, its clinical features are not well defined. MethodsWe collected retrospective data from 140 patients with PASC in a post-COVID-19 clinic on demographics, risk factors, illness severity (graded as one-mild to five-severe), functional status, and 29 symptoms and principal component symptoms cluster analysis. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2015 criteria were used to determine the ME/CFS phenotype. FindingsThe median age was 47 years, 59{middle dot}0% were female; 49{middle dot}3% White, 17{middle dot}2% Hispanic, 14{middle dot}9% Asian, and 6{middle dot}7% Black. Only 12{middle dot}7% required hospitalization. Seventy-two (53{middle dot}5%) patients had no known comorbid conditions. Forty-five (33{middle dot}9%) were significantly debilitated. The median duration of symptoms was 285{middle dot}5 days, and the number of symptoms was 12. The most common symptoms were fatigue (86{middle dot}5%), post-exertional malaise (82{middle dot}8%), brain fog (81{middle dot}2%), unrefreshing sleep (76{middle dot}7%), and lethargy (74{middle dot}6%). Forty-three percent fit the criteria for ME/CFS. InterpretationsMost PASC patients evaluated at our clinic had no comorbid condition and were not hospitalized for acute COVID-19. One-third of patients experienced a severe decline in their functional status. About 43% had the ME/CFS subtype. FundingThe study did not received funding.