Long COVID and cardiovascular disease: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cardiovascular risk factors have been associated with an increased risk of complications following hospitalisation with COVID-19, but their impact on the rate of recovery following discharge is not known.
Objectives: To determine whether the rate of patient-perceived recovery following hospitalisation with COVID-19 was affected by the presence of CVD or cardiovascular risk factors.
Methods: In a multicentre prospective cohort study, patients were recruited following discharge from the hospital with COVID-19 undertaking two comprehensive assessments at 5 months and 12 months. Patients were stratified by the presence of either CVD or cardiovascular risk factors prior to hospitalisation with COVID-19 and compared with controls with neither. Full recovery was determined by the response to a patient-perceived evaluation of full recovery from COVID-19 in the context of physical, physiological and cognitive determinants of health.
Results: From a total population of 2545 patients (38.8% women), 472 (18.5%) and 1355 (53.2%) had CVD or cardiovascular risk factors, respectively. Compared with controls (n=718), patients with CVD and cardiovascular risk factors were older and more likely to have had severe COVID-19. Full recovery was significantly lower at 12 months in patients with CVD (adjusted OR (aOR) 0.62, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.89) and cardiovascular risk factors (aOR 0.66, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.86).
Conclusion: Patients with CVD or cardiovascular risk factors had a delayed recovery at 12 months following hospitalisation with COVID-19. Targeted interventions to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in patients with cardiovascular disease remain an unmet need.
Trail Registration Number: ISRCTN10980107.
Competing Interests: Competing interests: KK is chair of the ethnicity subgroup of the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and is a member of SAGE. KK (Chair) and RE are members of the Long COVID Epidemiological Research Group that reports to the CMO. CB is an author of the COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 NICE guideline (NG188) https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng188/history. CB is a member of the NHS National Services Scotland Long COVID group and his employer, the University of Glasgow, holds a research agreement with AstraZeneca and Somalogic for research in COVID-19. AJM is an employee of AstraZeneca.
(© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)