The autonomic nervous system (ANS) can be affected by COVID-19, and dysautonomia may be a possible complication in post-COVID individuals. Orthostatic hypotension (OH) and postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) have been suggested to be common after SARS-CoV-2 infection, but other components of ANS function may be also impaired. The Composite Autonomic Symptom Scale 31 (COMPASS-31) questionnaire is a simple and validated tool to assess dysautonomic symptoms. The aim of the present study was to administer the COMPASS-31 questionnaire to a sample of post-COVID patients with and without neurological complaints. Participants were recruited among the post-COVID ambulatory services for follow-up evaluation between 4 weeks and 9 months from COVID-19 symptoms onset. Participants were asked to complete the COMPASS-31 questionnaire referring to the period after COVID-19 disease. Heart rate and blood pressure were manually taken during an active stand test for OH and POTS diagnosis. One-hundred and eighty participants were included in the analysis (70.6% females, 51 ± 13 years), and OH was found in 13.8% of the subjects. Median COMPASS-31 score was 17.6 (6.9–31.4), with the most affected domains being orthostatic intolerance, sudomotor, gastrointestinal and pupillomotor dysfunction. A higher COMPASS-31 score was found in those with neurological symptoms ( p < 0.01), due to more severe orthostatic intolerance symptoms ( p < 0.01), although gastrointestinal ( p < 0.01), urinary ( p < 0.01), and pupillomotor ( p < 0.01) domains were more represented in the non-neurological symptoms group. This study confirms the importance of monitoring ANS symptoms as a possible complication of COVID-19 disease that may persist in the post-acute period.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, long-COVID, Autonomic dysfunction, COMPASS-31, Orthostatic intolerance, 【초록키워드】 SARS-COV-2 infection, Diagnosis, Symptom, Symptoms, COVID-19 disease, Patient, nervous system, Follow-up, scale, heart rate, disease, questionnaire, Analysis, blood pressure, neurological, Composite, COVID-19 symptom, dysfunction, Orthostatic hypotension, Tachycardia, domain, syndrome, participant, component, complication of COVID-19, Complete, females, Neurological symptom, affected, recruited, subjects, suggested, individuals, administer, asked, autonomic, orthostatic, pupillomotor, 【제목키워드】 Patient, neurological, dysfunction,