Medical researchers at the University of Washington have identified the most common symptoms of long COVID by studying nearly 10,000 Americans.
Their research findings, published Thursday in JAMA, are expected to help doctors separate people with long COVID from those whose symptoms are caused by another medical problem.
The 12 symptoms that appear to be most useful for identifying patients with long COVID include: post-exertion malaise, fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, gastrointestinal problems, heart palpitations, issues with sexual desire or capacity, loss of smell or taste, thirst, chronic cough, chest pain and abnormal movements.
The study, led by Dr. Helen Chu, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, also found that people who were unvaccinated, had multiple infections or had their first infection before the 2021 omicron variant, were more likely to have long COVID symptoms and more severe cases of long COVID.