Number of initial symptoms is more related to long COVID-19 than acute severity of infection: a prospective cohort of hospitalized patients

•Long COVID-19 was experienced by almost two-thirds of hospitalized patients.•High number of initial symptoms increases the risk of long COVID-19 infection.•Objective measures of COVID-19 severity are unable to predict long COVID-19.•Having hypertension and being female are also associated with persistent symptoms.•Patients with a high number of initial symptoms should be closely monitored. Post–COVID-19 symptoms experienced by many survivors have a further devastating effect. This study aimed to analyze the risk factors associated with long COVID-19 in a prospective cohort of hospitalized patients including those requiring intensive care unit (ICU) transfer, taking into account objective measures of COVID-19 severity. Hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled. A structured follow-up visit was performed 4 months after hospital admission. Multivariable adjusted regression models were used to analyse the association between parameters at the acute phase and persistent symptoms. A follow-up visit was performed in 316 patients including 115 (36.4%) discharged from the ICU. Mean age was 64.1 years, and 201 patients (58.3%) were men. Female sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-3.22; P =.01), hypertension (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.22-3.31; P