Description of frequent and persistent symptoms of COVID-19 among older adults who attend senior centers.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 not only acutely compromises peoples health but can also generate symptoms that remain weeks after the infection. Moreover, older adults may have different symptomatologic patterns than other age groups. OBJECTIVE: To describe the acute and persistent symptoms of COVID-19 in older adult users of Social Security senior centers. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study was carried out by telephone call to older adults from five Peruvian senior centers, from July to September 2020, who reported being positive for COVID-19 in the last three months. Older adults were asked about associated symptoms, with a follow-up of up to four months. RESULTS: The most frequent acute symptoms were cough, fever, headache, and myalgia. The mean num- ber of symptoms per person was one to three. We also found that 4.4% of COVID-19 cases had symptoms that persisted over three weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Older persons in senior centers have a low frequency of persistent COVID-19 symptoms.