Impact of COVID-19 Severity on Long-term Events in US Veterans using the Veterans Affairs Severity Index for COVID-19 (VASIC)

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ashley Galloway, VA Boston Healthcare System; Yojin Park, VA Boston Healthcare System; Vidisha Tanukonda, Atlanta VA Healthcare System; Yuk-Lam Ho, VA Boston Healthcare System; Xuan-Mai T. Nguyen, VA Boston Healthcare System; Monika Maripuri, VA Boston Healthcare System; Andrew T. Dey, VA Boston Healthcare System; Hanna Gerlovin, VA Boston Healthcare System; Daniel Posner, VA Boston Healthcare System; Kristine E. Lynch, VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System; Tianxi Cai, VA Boston Healthcare System; Shiuh-Wen Luoh, Oregon Health & Science University; Stacey Whitbourne, VA Boston Healthcare System; David R. Gagnon, VA Boston Healthcare System; Sumitra Muralidhar, Veterans Health Administration; Phillip S. Tsao, Stanford University; Juan P. Casas, VA Boston Healthcare System; J. Michael Gaziano, VA Boston Healthcare System; Peter Wilson, Emory University; Adriana M. Hung, VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System; Kelly Cho, VA Boston Healthcare System
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-05-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America and HIV Medicine Association 2022.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiac182
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
• Keywords: SARS-CoV2; Epidemiology; Veterans; COVID-19; electronic health records (EHR)
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Biology, Virology

Abstract

In this retrospective cohort study of 94,595 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases, we developed and validated an algorithm to assess the association between COVID-19 severity and long-term complications (stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism/deep vein thrombosis, heart failure, and mortality). COVID-19 severity was associated with a greater risk of experiencing a long-term complication days 31-120 post-infection. Most incident events occurred days 31-60 post-infection and diminished after day 91, except heart failure for severe patients and death for moderate patients, which peaked days 91-120. Understanding the differential impact of COVID-19 severity on long-term events provide insight into possible intervention modalities and critical prevention strategies.