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nature medicine https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01433-3
Bjørn Blomberg 1,2,3 ✉, Kristin Greve-Isdahl Mohn 3,4, Karl Albert Brokstad5,6, Fan Zhou4,
Dagrun Waag Linchausen7
, Bent-Are Hansen8, Sarah Lartey4, Therese Bredholt Onyango4,
Kanika Kuwelker 1,2,3,4, Marianne Sævik 3
, Hauke Bartsch 9,10, Camilla Tøndel 11,12,
Bård Reiakvam Kittang1,8, Bergen COVID-19 Research Group*, Rebecca Jane Cox 4,13,14 ✉ and
Nina Langeland 1,2,3,14 ✉
Long-term complications after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are common in hospitalized patients, but the spectrum
of symptoms in milder cases needs further investigation. We conducted a long-term follow-up in a prospective cohort study
of 312 patients—247 home-isolated and 65 hospitalized—comprising 82% of total cases in Bergen during the first pandemic
wave in Norway. At 6 months, 61% (189/312) of all patients had persistent symptoms, which were independently associated
with severity of initial illness, increased convalescent antibody titers and pre-existing chronic lung disease. We found that 52%
(32/61) of home-isolated young adults, aged 16–30 years, had symptoms at 6 months, including loss of taste and/or smell
(28%, 17/61), fatigue (21%, 13/61), dyspnea (13%, 8/61), impaired concentration (13%, 8/61) and memory problems (11%,
7/61). Our findings that young, home-isolated adults with mild COVID-19 are at risk of long-lasting dyspnea and cognitive
symptoms highlight the importance of infection control measures, such as vaccination.
