Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 long term outcomes study (PECOS): cross sectional analysis at baseline

Abstract

PECOS is an ongoing study aimed to characterize long-term outcomes following pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is a cross-sectional analysis of infected and uninfected cohorts at baseline. Participants (0–21 years) with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled as infected. Uninfected were defined as individuals without history or laboratory evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Outcome measures included demographics, medical history, review of symptoms, physical exam, cardiopulmonary evaluation and validated psychological and developmental surveys. Primary outcomes were cohort comparisons for abnormalities on all measures. 654 participants (541 infected, 113 uninfected) completed baseline visits by June 30, 2023. Infected participants were more likely to report constitutional (OR: 2.24), HEENT (OR: 3.74); respiratory (OR: 2.41), or gastrointestinal (OR: 2.58) symptoms. Infected had worse scores in domains of Pain, Fatigue, Global Health, Physical and Cognitive functioning, Mobility and Sleep disturbances when compared to uninfected controls using Patient Reported Outcomes. Cardiopulmonary findings were similar among cohorts. The first report of this ongoing longitudinal study demonstrates that infected participants were more likely to report symptoms compared to uninfected controls, which may affect performance and quality of life of these individuals. Longitudinal data will increase understanding of long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04830852