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Background: The global prevalence of PASC is estimated to be present in 0·43 and based on theWHO estimation of 470million worldwide COVID-19 infections, corresponds to around 200 million people experiencing long COVID symptoms. Despite this, its clinical features are not well-defined. Methods: We collected retrospective data from 140 patients with PASC in a post-COVID-19 clinic on demographics, risk factors, illness severity (graded as one-mild to five-severe), functional status, and 29 symptoms and principal component symptoms cluster analysis. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2015 criteria were used to determine the Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) phenotype. Findings: The median age was 47 years, 59.0% were female; 49.3% White, 17.2% Hispanic, 14.9% Asian, and 6.7% Black. Only 12.7% required hospitalization. Seventy-two (53.5%) patients had no known comorbid conditions. Forty-five (33.9%) were significantly debilitated. Themedian duration of symptoms was 285.5 days, and the number of symptoms was 12. The most common symptoms were fatigue (86.5%), post-exertional malaise (82.8%), brain fog (81.2%), unrefreshing sleep (76.7%), and lethargy (74.6%). Forty-three percent fit the criteria for ME/CFS, majority were female, and obesity (BMI > 30 Kg/m2) (P = 0.00377895) and worse functional status (P = 0.0110474) were significantly associated with ME/CFS. Interpretations: Most PASC patients evaluated at our clinic had no comorbid condition and were not hospitalized for acute COVID-19. One-third of patients experienced a severe decline in their functional status. About 43% had the ME/CFS subtype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 69.8% (579/829) of responders with smell loss reported that their smell dysfunction had adversely impacted their quality of life (QoL). Keywords: olfaction; olfactory disorders; quality of life EN olfaction olfactory disorders quality of life 1558 1560 3 07/26/23 20230801 NES 230801 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has put unprecedented strains on healthcare systems across the globe and this is thought to continue with the advent of long COVID. High prevalence of persistent smell loss and qualitative smell dysfunction during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States: Urgent need for clinical trials. [Extracted from the article]