The impact of wildtype SARS-CoV-2 on fatigue and quality of life: prevalence of post COVID-19 condition in a Dutch population-based serosurveillance cohort.

ObjectivesWe studied post-COVID-19 condition by investigating health-related quality of life and fatigue in the general Dutch population in the early phase of the pandemic, including symptomatic and asymptomatic infections among unvaccinated individuals. Methods(Still) unvaccinated participants aged [≥]15 years were selected from the February 2021 round of the nationwide seroepidemiological PIENTER Corona cohort study. We assessed associations between the time since serologically-identified SARS-CoV-2 infection and four outcome measures: health utility (Short-Form 6 Dimensions), mental health and physical health (Short Form Health Survey 12) and fatigue (Checklist Individual Strength subscale fatigue). Per outcome, cutoff points were selected at each 5% increment (5-75%) along the cumulative distribution of those uninfected. At each cutoff, multivariable logistic regression models (score below cutoff yes/no) were fitted adjusted for infection history, age, sex, education level, comorbidities, and restriction intensity. ResultsAt the cutoff of the lowest 15th percentile among uninfected, significant differences between uninfected (n=4,569) and infected [≤]4 months ago (n=351) were observed for health utility (OR [95%CI]: 1.6 [1.2-2.2]), physical health (1.9 [1.5-2.5]) and fatigue (1.6 [1.3-2.1]), but not for mental health (1.2 [0.9-1.6]). There were no significant differences between uninfected and infected >4 months ago (n=327) for all outcomes at any cutoff of the cumulative distribution, with post-hoc analysis showing a power to detect prevalence differences as low as 7%. ConclusionsIn the first year of the pandemic, data from this Dutch population-based seroepidemiological cohort showed that unvaccinated individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 infection [≤]4 months ago reported poorer health utility and physical health, and more severe fatigue compared to those uninfected. Interestingly, for those infected >4 months ago differences remained below the detection limit, suggesting a lower population prevalence of post-COVID-19 condition than currently found in literature for this period.