Research Summaries

In this RECOVER study, researchers looked at the electronic health records (EHRs) of 85,196 people in the hospital with COVID to identify possible risk factors for Long COVID. Researchers wanted to see if health measurements called vital signs—which include how well a person breathes, how fast their heart beats, and their blood pressure—could show which people with COVID might be more likely to get Long COVID. Researchers used computer tools and special techniques to look at these vital signs. They found that changes in a person’s breathing and heartbeat during the first week they were hospitalized with COVID were better at predicting who might get Long COVID than other information like a person’s age, sex, or other health conditions. When researchers used these vital signs and other information together, they could make even better predictions. These findings show that looking at a person’s vital signs during the first week that they’re hospitalized with COVID can help doctors figure out, and better care for, people who might get Long COVID.

RECOVER researchers used data in electronic health records (EHRs) from children’s hospitals that were a part of the National Pediatric Learning Health System Network (PEDSnet). Researchers looked for symptoms, health conditions, and medicines children had about 1 to 6 months after a COVID-19 test. They compared children who did and didn’t have COVID-19 to learn how many children who had COVID-19 got Long COVID, and symptoms and health problems Long COVID causes in children.

The researchers learned that Long COVID is uncommon in children and happens in about 4% of children with COVID-19 compared to in about 5% - 21% of adults with COVID-19. They also learned the Long COVID symptoms and health conditions that happen most often in children include changes in smell or taste hair loss, trouble breathing, and inflammation (swelling) in the heart or muscles.

RECOVER researchers wanted to learn if a computer program could identify if people have Long COVID based on electronic health records (EHRs). They used EHRs from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). Researchers created and used a computer program to compare people with Long COVID to those who didn’t have Long COVID (based on whether or not people had a visit to a Long COVID clinic in their EHR). The computer program looked for patterns in people’s symptoms, health conditions, and other data.

The researchers concluded their computer program could be used to identify people with possible Long COVID. The computer program found that people with Long COVID have patterns in their health care visits, age groups, symptoms and health conditions, and the medicines they take. This could help connect people with Long COVID to health care or invite them to join research studies.

Heart problems after having COVID-19 and after getting an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine 

RECOVER researchers used data from over 15 million people’s electronic health records (EHR) to compare how many people have heart problems after having COVID-19 or getting an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. They used EHR data from 40 health systems in PCORnet, the National Patient Centered Clinical Research Network. 

Researchers found that the chance of having heart problems is higher after having COVID-19 than after getting an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for men and women in all age groups. The overall chance of having heart problems after having COVID-19 or getting an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was very low across all ages and genders. These results support the continued use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for all people ages 5 and older, who meet the vaccine criteria.