Post‐COVID syndrome: A single‐center questionnaire study on 1007 participants recovered from COVID‐19

Now published in the Journal of Medical Virology doi: 10.1002/jmv.27198

 

The abstract of the article and summary points can be read here, but for the full article, please follow the link above.

Abstract: 

Post recovery manifestations have become another concern in patients who have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Numerous reports have shown that COVID‐19 has a variety of long‐term effects on almost all systems including respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, psychiatric, and dermatological systems. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of the post‐COVID syndrome among COVID‐19 survivors and to determine the factors associated with persistent symptoms. This prospective study enrolled in patients with COVID‐19 followed in hospital or outpatient clinics in Ankara City Hospital. We performed a special questionnaire to inquire about the presence of persistent symptoms beyond 12 weeks from the first diagnosis. Demographic data, comorbid diseases, characteristics of acute COVID‐19, presence of persistent symptoms by systems, and knowledge about outpatient clinic visits after recovery were assessed. Of a total of 1007 participants, 39.0% had at least one comorbidity, and 47.5% had persistent symptoms. Fatigue/easy fatigability, myalgia, and loss of weight were the most frequent persistent symptoms (overall 29.3%) followed by respiratory symptoms (25.4%). A total of 235 participants had visited outpatient clinics due to several reasons during the post‐COVID‐19 period, and 17 of them were hospitalized. Severe acute COVID‐19, hospitalization, and presence of comorbidity were independent factors for the development of persistent symptoms. Fully understanding the spectrum of the post‐COVID syndrome is essential for appropriate management of all its long‐term effects. Our study once again underlined the fact that the prevalence of post‐COVID syndrome is higher than expected and concerns many systems, and a multidisciplinary follow‐up should be provided to COVID‐19 survivors in the post recovery period.
 
Summary Points: 
  • The study showed that patients with COVID-19 had persistent symptoms even 4-5months after COVID-19 diagnosis, and even patients with a mild-to-moderate disease suffered from persistent symptoms. 
  • It concluded that many patients, especially with neuropsychiatric symptoms ignored their symptoms probably due to low awareness, therefore patients should be enlightened about the long-term effects of COVID-19 and awareness about postrecovery follow-up should be raised. 
  • The study also reminded that in the post-COVID period, healthcare should be planned as multidisciplinary care to address the patients as whole. 

Authors: 

  • Bircan Kayaaslan
  • Fatma Eser
  • Ayse K. Kalem
  • Gamze Kaya
  • Betul Kaplan
  • Duygu Kacar
  • Imran Hasanoglu
  • Belgin Coskun
  • Rahmet Guner