Body mass index and comorbidities are associated with the duration of COVID-19 symptoms in non-hospitalized patients.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence indicates that people with a high body mass index (BMI) tend to develop more severe forms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we aimed to determine the association between the duration of COVID-19 symptoms and variables such as BMI, age, presence of comorbidities, and smoking in non-hospitalized patients. METHODS: In this observational cross-sectional analytical study, we analyzed the data of patients with COVID-19 but without severe manifestations. We conducted descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, and multivariate quasi-Poisson regression in the analysis. The quasi-Poisson regression model was configured with the duration of COVID-19 symptoms as the response variable, and BMI and the presence of comorbidities as the explanatory variables. RESULTS: Among 302 non-hospitalized patients, we found a significant difference in COVID-19 symptom duration between the overweight group and the group with normal weight. Multivariate quasi-Poisson regression analysis showed that BMI and the presence of comorbidities were associated with the duration of COVID-19 symptoms. On the contrary, sex, age, and smoking status were not related to COVID-19 symptom duration. CONCLUSIONS: BMI and comorbidities were associated with the duration of COVID-19 symptoms in non-hospitalized patients.

Increased number of electrocardiogram findings requiring additional cardiac examination in young athletes during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: a case series.

We aimed to compare the results of electrocardiogram (ECG) examinations in young athletes from 2017 to 2020, which includes a period during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with special attention to T-wave inversion that might be a sign of myocarditis. This was a retrospective observational study. We reviewed data of ECG examinations among 640 young athletes aged 10 to 14 years (160 in each year from 2017-2020). The setting was Novi Sad Sports Medicine Center in Serbia. We hypothesized that most young athletes with changes on ECG had asymptomatic COVID-19. In the group from 2020, there were significantly more ECG findings requiring additional cardiac examination, according to modern sports cardiology, compared with previous years. We describe one case of documented asymptomatic COVID-19 infection and with T-wave inversion in V4 and V5. The number of schoolchildren with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection might be high because most classes in Novi Sad were conducted face-to-face during 2020. Because a serious risk of myocarditis exists in young athletes, especially in relation to COVID-19 infection, a careful sports preparticipation examination is important to identify athletes possibly requiring additional testing and medical care prior to a return to sports.