ArticleBMC medical research methodology2023
Design and analysis of outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in veterans.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 14 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trends in all-cause pneumonia and influenza hospitalization incidence by coding position - a study of US healthcare claims, 2014-2023.Pneumonia (Nathan Qld.) · 2026Article
- Illness Experiences of Veterans Reporting Long-Term Symptoms or Health Challenges from COVID-19: Results from the VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Veteran Mental Health Emergency Care Utilization Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Health services research · 2025Article
- Use of Long COVID Clinics in the Veterans Health Administration: Implications for the path forward.Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- Veterans at High Risk for Post-COVID-19 Suicide Attempts or Other Self-Directed Violence.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Change in frailty among older COVID-19 survivors.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2024Observational
- Financial hardship after COVID-19 infection among US Veterans: a national prospective cohort study.BMC health services research · 2024Observational
- COVID-19 Severity and Mortality in Veterans with Chronic Lung Disease.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2024Article
- Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Long-Term Depression Symptoms among Veterans.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
- Risk of Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations After SARS-CoV-2 Infection.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Self-Reported Everyday Functioning After COVID-19 Infection.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Risk of Suicide-Related Outcomes After SARS-COV-2 Infection: Results from a Nationwide Observational Matched Cohort of US Veterans.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
- Changes in Outpatient Health Care Use After COVID-19 Infection Among Veterans.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Correction: Design and analysis of outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in veterans.BMC medical research methodology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
21 authors at 12 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding how SARS-CoV-2 infection impacts long-term patient outcomes requires identification of comparable persons with and without infection. We report the design and implementation of a matching strategy employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC) to develop comparable cohorts of SARS-CoV-2 infected and uninfected persons for the purpose of inferring potential causative long-term adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Veteran population.
methodsIn a retrospective cohort study, we identified VA health care system patients who were and were not infected with SARS-CoV-2 on a rolling monthly basis. We generated matched cohorts within each month utilizing a combination of exact and time-varying propensity score matching based on electronic health record (EHR)-derived covariates that can be confounders or risk factors across a range of outcomes.
resultsFrom an initial pool of 126,689,864 person-months of observation, we generated final matched cohorts of 208,536 Veterans infected between March 2020-April 2021 and 3,014,091 uninfected Veterans. Matched cohorts were well-balanced on all 39 covariates used in matching after excluding patients for: no VA health care utilization; implausible age, weight, or height; living outside of the 50 states or Washington, D.C.; prior SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis per Medicare claims; or lack of a suitable match. Most Veterans in the matched cohort were male (88.3%), non-Hispanic (87.1%), white (67.2%), and living in urban areas (71.5%), with a mean age of 60.6, BMI of 31.3, Gagne comorbidity score of 1.4 and a mean of 2.3 CDC high-risk conditions. The most common diagnoses were hypertension (61.4%), diabetes (34.3%), major depression (32.2%), coronary heart disease (28.5%), PTSD (25.5%), anxiety (22.5%), and chronic kidney disease (22.5%).
conclusionThis successful creation of matched SARS-CoV-2 infected and uninfected patient cohorts from the largest integrated health system in the United States will support cohort studies of outcomes derived from EHRs and sample selection for qualitative interviews and patient surveys. These studies will increase our understanding of the long-term outcomes of Veterans who were infected with SARS-CoV-2.
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