Pinto, Melissa D.Downs, Charles A.Huang, YongEl‑Azab, Sarah A.Ramrakhiani, Nathan S.Barisano, AnthonyYu, LuTaylor, KaitlynEsperanca, AlvaroAbrahim, Heather L.Hughes, ThomasGiraldo Herrera, MariaRahamani, Amir M.Dutt, NikilChakraborty, RanaMendiola, ChristianLambert, Natalie2023-08-282023-08-282022-09-23Pinto MD, Downs CA, Huang Y, et al. A distinct symptom pattern emerges for COVID-19 long-haul: a nationwide study. Sci Rep. 2022;12(1):15905. Published 2022 Sep 23. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-20214-7https://hdl.handle.net/1805/35185Long-haul COVID-19, also called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), is a new illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and characterized by the persistence of symptoms. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify a distinct and significant temporal pattern of PASC symptoms (symptom type and onset) among a nationwide sample of PASC survivors (n = 5652). The sample was randomly sorted into two independent samples for exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Five factors emerged from the EFA: (1) cold and flu-like symptoms, (2) change in smell and/or taste, (3) dyspnea and chest pain, (4) cognitive and visual problems, and (5) cardiac symptoms. The CFA had excellent model fit (x2 = 513.721, df = 207, p < 0.01, TLI = 0.952, CFI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.024). These findings demonstrate a novel symptom pattern for PASC. These findings can enable nurses in the identification of at-risk patients and facilitate early, systematic symptom management strategies for PASC.en-USAttribution 4.0 InternationalComputational biologyBioinformaticsRisk factorsSigns and symptomsArticle