There are 4 ‘major’ types of long COVID symptoms, study finds. How likely is each?
While long COVID can manifest in the body in a myriad of ways — proving a challenge for doctors to officially diagnose the condition — new research has categorized four “major” types of symptoms.
Among the four major types of symptoms identified by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, they also discovered which appear to be the most prevalent in what they’ve called the largest study to date of long COVID, which is when health issues from the coronavirus persist in the weeks to months after infection.
The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine in December, give clues into how likely each long COVID “subtype” can be.
The examination of the health records of 34,605 patients in the 30 to 180 days following their confirmed COVID-19 infections revealed more than 137 “lingering long COVID-type symptoms” that can be grouped into the four categories, according to the research.
The four major types of long COVID symptoms
Diagnosing long COVID can be tough because “many of its symptoms are similar to those of other diseases and symptoms,” Dr. Raphael Kellman, a physician of integrative and functional medicine in New York City who treats post-COVID patients, previously told McClatchy News in October.
In the study, Weill Cornell researchers identified these symptoms as the “four major patterns” or clusters of long COVID conditions:
Heart, kidney and circulatory problems
Respiratory issues, anxiety, sleep disorders and chest pains
Musculoskeletal and nervous system issues, including arthritis
Digestive and respiratory issues
This came after health records from both patients in New York and Florida were analyzed from March 2020 up until November 2021, according to the research. A machine-learning algorithm was used to identify the symptoms.
By studying these records of patients who previously had COVID-19, Dr. Rainu Kaushal, the study’s co-senior author, said in a statement that it offers “a window into this condition, allowing us to better characterize long COVID symptoms, informing other types of research including foundational discoveries and clinical trials.”
How likely is each long COVID subtype?
The most prevalent long COVID symptom cluster, affecting roughly 34% of patients studied, was the heart, kidney and circulatory system subtype, according to the research.
Notably, patients dealing with these symptoms were more likely to have an average age of 65 and be male, the release noted. Additionally, 61% of this group were hospitalized due to their COVID-19 infection and also had pre-existing conditions before becoming sick with the virus.
The second most prevalent long COVID category identified were respiratory, sleep, anxiety, headache and chest pain symptoms, the study found. This symptom cluster affected about 33% of patients, especially those considered younger.
The third long COVID subtype, musculoskeletal and nervous system issues, and the fourth, digestive and respiratory issues, were “less prevalent,” researchers wrote.
Female patients were mostly affected by the second, third and fourth long COVID symptom clusters, the release said.
“This sex difference in long-COVID risk is consistent with prior research, but so far very few studies have even tried to uncover the mechanisms underlying it,” Dr. Fei Wang, who led the research and is an associate professor of population health sciences, said in a statement.
The study seeks to help the public, including doctors, better understand long COVID and inform the development of potential treatment regimens for it, according to Wang.
Study authors wrote that one strength of their research is that it was conducted during COVID-19 waves involving different variants, including the delta variant.
They said that one limitation of the work is the observational nature of the research and how it can’t explain why long COVID may manifest in several different ways.
About 1 in 5 adults may develop at least one long COVID-19 symptom, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research published in May.
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 11:30 AM with the headline "There are 4 ‘major’ types of long COVID symptoms, study finds. How likely is each?."
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