A Cross-Sectional Study of the Health of Emerging Young Adults in England Following a COVID-19 Infection

Fiona Newlands; Natalia K Rojas; Manjula Nugawela; Snehal M Pinto Pereira; Marta Buszewicz; Trudie Chalder; Emily Y Cheung; Emma Dalrymple; Tamsin Ford; Isobel Heyman; Shamez N Ladhani; Kelsey McOwat; Ruth Simmons; Terence Stephenson; Roz Shafran

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.026

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Health of Emerging Young Adults in England Following a COVID-19 Infection

J Adolesc Health. 2023 Jul;73(1):20-28. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.026. Epub 2023 Feb 9.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: fiona.newlands.18@ucl.ac.uk.
² UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
³ Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London, United Kingdom.
⁴ Research Department of Primary Care & Population Health, Faculty of Population and Health Sciences, University College London, Royal Free Campus, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Hershel Smith Building Cambridge Biomedical Campus, United Kingdom.
⁷ Paediatric Infectious Diseases Research Group, St. George's University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, United Kingdom.
⁸ Immunisation Department, Public Health England, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Purpose: This study describes long COVID symptomatology in a national sample of 18- to 20-year-olds with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-confirmed Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) and matched test-negative controls in England. Symptoms in 18- to 20-year-olds were compared to symptoms in younger adolescents (aged 11-17 years) and all adults (18+).

Methods: A national database was used to identify SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive 18- to 20-year-olds and test-negative controls matched by time of test, age, gender, and geographical region. Participants were invited to complete a questionnaire about their health retrospectively at time of test and also when completing the questionnaire. Comparison cohorts included children and young people with long COVID and REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission studies.

Results: Of 14,986 people invited, 1,001 were included in the analysis (562 test-positive; 440 test-negative). At testing, 46.5% of test-positives and 16.4% of test-negatives reported at least one symptom. At the time of questionnaire completion (median 7 months post-testing), 61.5% of test-positives and 47.5% of test-negatives reported one or more symptoms. The most common symptoms were similar amongst test-positives and test-negatives and included tiredness (44.0%; 35.7%), shortness of breath (28.8%; 16.3%), and headaches (13.7%; 12.0%). Prevalence rates were similar to those reported by 11-17-year-olds (66.5%) and higher than those reported in all adults (37.7%). For 18- to 20-year-olds, there was no significant difference in health-related quality of life and well-being (p > .05). However, test-positives reported being significantly more tired than test-negatives (p = .04).

Discussion: Seven months after PCR test, a high proportion of test-positive and test-negative 18- to 20-year-olds reported similar symptoms to each other and to those experienced by younger and older counterparts.

Keywords: Emerging adults; Long COVID; Symptoms.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
COVID-19*
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
England / epidemiology
Humans
Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
Quality of Life
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2
Young Adult