Baseline characteristics for inception cohort of COVID-19 positive cases
| Variables | Categories | Acute COVID-19 symptoms (N=2198) | Post-acute COVID-19 symptoms (N=495) | Long COVID symptoms (N=356) |
| Sociodemographic variables | ||||
| Age (years) | Overall | 38.7±11.4 | 38.86±11.3 | 38.42±11.3 |
| Age (years) in categories | 18–30 | 669 (30.4%) | 125 (25.3%) | 94 (26.4%) |
| 31–40 | 718 (32.7%) | 181 (36.6%) | 131 (36.8%) | |
| 41–50 | 473 (21.5%) | 102 (20.6%) | 70 (19.7%) | |
| 51–60 | 277 (12.6%) | 74 (14.9%) | 55 (15.4%) | |
| 61–70 | 47 (2.1%) | 10 (2.0%) | 3 (0.8%) | |
| >70 | 14 (0.6%) | 3 (0.6%) | 3 (0.8%) | |
| Sex | Male | 1591 (72.4%) | 342 (69.1%) | 242 (68%) |
| Female | 607 (27.6) | 153 (30.9%) | 114 (32%) | |
| Marital status | Married | 1868 (85%) | 424 (85.7%) | 304 (85.4%) |
| Unmarried | 308 (14%) | 61 (12.3%) | 45 (12.6%) | |
| Widow/ widower | 22 (1%) | 10 (2.0%) | 7 (2.0%) | |
| Education | No formal education | 36 (1.6%) | 6 (1.2%) | 1 (0.3%) |
| Primary education | 57 (2.6%) | 8 (1.6%) | 6 (1.7%) | |
| Secondary Education | 265 (12.1%) | 68 (13.7%) | 52 (14.6%) | |
| Higher secondary | 739 (33.6%) | 148 (29.9%) | 110 (30.9%) | |
| Bachelor degree and above | 1101 (50.1%) | 265 (53.5%) | 187 (52.5%) | |
| Residing area | Rural | 1652 (75.2%) | 355 (71.7%) | 254 (71.3%) |
| Urban | 546 (24.8%) | 140 (28.3%) | 102 (28.7%) | |
| Occupation | Private jobs | 1212 (55.1%) | 252 (50.9%) | 179 (50.3%) |
| Government jobs | 298 (13.6%) | 61 (12.3%) | 40 (11.2%) | |
| Housewife | 229 (10.4%) | 44 (8.9%) | 28 (7.9%) | |
| Students | 225 (10.2%) | 47 (9.5%) | 37 (10.4%) | |
| Healthcare professionals | 133 (6.1%) | 48 (9.7%) | 36 (10.1%) | |
| Law enforcement agency | 101 (4.6%) | 43 (8.7%) | 36 (10.1%) | |
| Health indicators | ||||
| Major comorbidities (multiple responses) | Hypertension | 271 (25.6%) | 88 (24.9%) | 63 (26.4%) |
| Diabetes | 240 (22.7%) | 69 (19.5%) | 54 (22.6%) | |
| Lung disease | 73 (6.9%) | 28 (7.9%) | 24 (10.0%) | |
| Heart disease | 63 (6%) | 18 (5.1%) | 13 (5.4%) | |
| Kidney disease | 18 (1.7%) | 5 (1.4%) | 1 (0.4%) | |
| Blood group | B positive | 763 (34.7%) | 167 (33.7%) | 129 (36.2%) |
| A positive | 508 (23.1%) | 111 (22.4%) | 68 (19.1%) | |
| O positive | 514 (23.4%) | 130 (26.3%) | 93 (26.1%) | |
| AB positive | 230 (10.5%) | 56 (11.3%) | 46 (12.9%) | |
| O negative | 24 (1.1%) | 6 (1.2%) | 3 (0.8%) | |
| B negative | 32 (1.5%) | 6 (1.2%) | 6 (1.7%) | |
| A negative | 36 (1.6%) | 8 (1.6%) | 6 (1.7%) | |
| AB negative | 13 (0.6%) | 0 | 0 | |
| Don’t know | 78 (3.5%) | 11 (2.2%) | 5 (1.4%) | |
| COVID-related information | ||||
| WHO Severity of COVID Index | Mild COVID | 1670 (75.9%) | 305 (61.6%) | 217 (61%) |
| Moderate COVID | 520 (23.6%) | 186 (37.6%) | 135 (37.9%) | |
| Severe COVID | 8 (0.4%) | 4 (0.8%) | 4 (1.1%) | |
| Treatment received | Usual care* | 2063 (93.9%) | 434 (87.7%) | 307 (86.2%) |
| Oxygen supplement | 126 (5.7%) | 57 (11.5%) | 45 (12.6%) | |
| Ventilation† | 5 (0.2%) | 3 (0.6%) | 3 (0.8%) | |
| ICU‡ | 4 (0.2%) | 1 (0.2%) | 1 (0.3%) | |
| Post COVID-19 Functional Status Scale | Overall mean, SD | 10.18±8.3 | 12.41±8.7 | 12.14±8.8 |
| No functional limitation | 1939 (88.2%) | 371 (74.9%) | 261 (73.3%) | |
| Negligible limitation | 221 (10.1%) | 100 (20.2%) | 72 (20.2%) | |
| Slight limitation | 38 (1.7) | 24 (4.8%) | 23 (6.5%) | |
*Usual care=isolation, medication and care at home as per the advice of government telemedicine team.
†Ventilation=non-invasive ventilation assistance at hospital.
‡ICU=admitted in dedicated COVID ICU with or without mechanical ventilation and received critical care.
ICU, intensive care unit.