Analysis of 160 nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms from an Austrian general medical practice: from typical disease pattern to unexpected clinical features

Patients from the general practice who had severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection between January 2020 and March 2021 participated in an online survey to report their symptoms. This observational study describes the broad range of mild to moderate symptoms experienced by 160 symptom-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) nonhospitalized patients, including 89 laboratory-confirmed cases. Compared to confirmed cases, a higher number of presumed and suspected patients had sore throat, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, fatigue, or severe neck tension. Unexpected COVID-19-associated clinical features, such as alteration of blood consistency, hormonal imbalance, increased muscle tone and/or aches of skeletal muscles, joint pain, or dermatological disorders were observed by the participants. In the early period of the pandemic, COVID-19 diagnosis of patients was based on medical symptoms rather than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or serological testing. These real-world data are essential to understand the pathophysiology of this virus infection and to develop innovative therapeutic approaches.