The aim of the current study is to assess dysautonomia symptoms and quality of life in patients with PASC recruited from a neurology outpatient setting. 

In a follow-up study of a baseline cohort of SARS-CoV-2 laboratory-positive patients evaluated for PASC between November, 2020 and August, 2021, 49.5% (46/93) participants completed follow-up phone questionnaires examining quality of life, neurologic and autonomic symptoms.

Questionnaires at 1-year follow-up were completed by 46 participants (63% females, average age of 51±17 years), of which 95% were vaccinated against COVID-19. Of these, 42 participants completed the COMPASS-31 scale. A COMPASS-31 raw-score>17 indicating autonomic dysfunction was found in 69% of subjects. Median COMPASS-31 score was 26.6 (SD=17.1, range=0.89-56.9). A greater COMPASS-31 score was associated at 1-year follow-up with Neuro-QoL-Anxiety T-score (p=0.031, linear regression adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and Neuro-QoL-Fatigue T-score (p=0.003), but not Neuro-QoL-Depression (p=0.117) Baseline Neuro-QoL-Depression T-scores were associated with greater COMPASS-31 scores at follow-up (p=0.017), while Neuro-QoL-Anxiety (p=0.152) and Neuro-QoL-Fatigue (p=0.083) were not.

Patients who reported persistent lightheadedness/dizziness had greater COMPASS-31 scores at 1-year follow-up (p<0.0001 adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity). Those reporting light-headedness/dizziness at follow-up also had a mean COMPASS-31 raw score of 20.6 points higher than those not reporting this symptom.  Lightheaded symptoms at  baseline study visit were not associated with 1-year follow-up COMPASS-31 scores (p=0.694)