Potential Factors Related to Post-Covid-19 Persistent Symptoms; Khorshid Covid Cohort Study Publisher

Summary: Study finds cough, fatigue & weight loss persist in COVID-19 patients post-recovery, linked to age & hospital stay. #LongCovid #PostCovid

Sami R¹ ; Khoozani ZK² ; Mansourian M³ ; Naderi Z² ; Karami M⁴ ; Nickpour M¹ ; Toghyani A² ; Gharavinia A⁵ ; Hosseini NS² ; Dehghan M² ; Babahajiani M⁶ ; Shokrimashhadi N⁷
Source: Immunopathologia Persa Published:2023

Abstract

Introduction: Recently, a high percentage of post-discharge patients have reported persistent symptoms after COVID-19 recovery. However, there is limited comprehensive information regarding nature’s symptoms and association with potential factors. Objectives: We aimed to assess the inpatients’ characteristics and the prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms at admission and four weeks after recovery to recognize the potential factors related to the persistent symptoms. Patients and Methods: We assessed the medical information of 262 severe and 546 non-severe COVID-19 inpatients at admission, and during the first and four weeks after post-discharge from the Khorshid COVID Cohort (KCC) study. Results: Cough, dyspnea, and fatigue were the most reported symptoms at admission, and continuously were declined over the time (all P<0.01). However, the complaint of weight loss was increased during follow-up (P=0.01). Older age (P<0.0001), male gender (P=0.02), administration of hydroxychloroquine (P=0.017), and the interval time from illness onset to visit hospital (P<0.0001) augmented the remaining respiratory symptoms risk. Additionally, more length of hospital stay correlated to the lower risk of persistent constitutional symptoms (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study points out the greater rehabilitation needs and management of persistent symptoms, in particular cough, dyspnea, fatigue and weight loss, and their related factors. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s);