Lifestyle, course of COVID-19, and risk of Long-COVID in non-hospitalized patients

Abstract

IntroductionThe coronavirus disease (COVID) 2019 pandemic remains a great challenge for the healthcare system. The widely reported prolonged signs and symptoms resulting from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (Long-COVID) require medical care. The aim of the study was to assess factors, including lifestyle variables, related to the course of COVID-19 infection and to assess their impact on prolonged symptoms in non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19.MethodsA total of 1,847 (637 men and 1,210 women) non-hospitalized participants of the STOP-COVID registry of the PoLoCOV-Study who, following the COVID-19, underwent check-up examinations at the cardiology outpatient clinic were included in the analysis.ResultsThe study participants (median age 51 [41–62] years) were evaluated at 13.4 (8.4–23.6) weeks following the diagnosis of COVID-19. Female sex (odds ratio [OR] 1.46 [95% CI 1.19–1.78]), body mass index (BMI; per 1 kg/m2: 1.02 [1.00–1.04]), hypertension (1.39 [1.07–1.81]), asthma (1.55 [1.06–2.27]), stress or overworking (1.54 [1.25–1.90]), and nightshift work (1.51 [1.06–2.14]) were independently related to the severity of symptoms during acute phase of the COVID-19 infection. The Long-COVID syndrome was independently related to the female sex (1.42 [1.13–1.79]), history of myocardial infarction (2.57 [1.04–6.32]), asthma (1.56 [1.01–2.41]), and severe course of the acute phase of the COVID-19 infection (2.27 [1.82–2.83]).ConclusionFemale sex, BMI, asthma, hypertension, nightshifts, and stress or overworking are significantly related to the severity of the acute phase of the COVID-19 infection, while female sex, asthma, history of myocardial infarction, and the severity of symptoms in the acute phase of COVID-19 are the predictors of Long-COVID in non-hospitalized patients. We did not find an independent relation between Long-COVID and the studied lifestyle factors.

Sleep disturbance increases the risk of severity and acquisition of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The studies were conducted in various countries, including the United States ( n = 4), China ( n = 2), the UK ( n = 3), and one study conducted in Bangladesh, Poland, and Netherlands. Among the included studies, 6 studies evaluated the effect of poor sleep quality on COVID-19 severity [ 15 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 ], and the remaining studies evaluated the effect of poor sleep quality as a risk factor of acquisition of COVID-19 [ 16 – 19 , 21 , 24 ]. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the included studies.…”

“…(3) Did you take sleeping pills more than 3 times per week? A score between 0 and 3 was given based on having these sleep problems Jones et al [ 22 ] 2022 USA Cohort study 557,000 Individuals in the FInnGen database N.R N.R ICD10-based electronic health record and questionnaire-based information on self-reported short sleep and insomnia and diagnosis of insomnia Li et al [ 23 ] 2021 USA Cohort study 46,535 UK biobank 69.4 ± 8.3 years 46.70% Sleep behavior burdens: “none” (0), “mild” (1), “moderate” (2–3), “significant” (4–6) Marcus et al [ 24 ] 2021 USA Cohort study 14,335 English speaking adults with a smartphone 18–29 years: 1961 (13.7%) 30–39 years: 3225 (22.5%) 40–49 years: 2873 (20.0%) 50–59 years: 2839 (19.8%) + 60 years: 3437 (24.0%) 35% Sleep duration Mohsin et al [ 25 ] 2021 Bangladesh Comparative cross-sectional 1500 COVID-19 patients in Dhaka city 43.23 ± 15.48 years 69.20% History of sleep disturbances Pływaczewska et al [ 26 ] 2022 Poland Cohort study 1847 Participants of the STOP-COVID registry of the PoLoCOV-Study Median age 51 34.50% History of insomnia (defined as a difficulty falling asleep and maintainin...…”

“…Lack of sleep plays an important role in disease severity as shown in a study done by Haung et al COVID severity increases with decreased sleep status as is 8 times higher in patients with lack of sleep [ 20 ]. In contrast, another study done by Pkywaczewska-Jakubowska et al has not reported a significant difference in sleep disturbance or insomnia between various stages of COVID-19 infection [ 26 ]. It has been reported that Sleep deprivation is associated with higher rates of mortality and need for hospitalization among COVID-19 patients [ 23 ].…”

Symptom patterns of long COVID and chronic illness: a cross-sectional analysis of the SulCovid-19 Study

“…In our ndings, the presence of breathing problems increased the probability of presenting the breathing pattern by 70%. Chronic diseases such as asthma and history of myocardial infarction were related to long COVID in nonhospitalized patients in a Polish study [24]. This suggests that preexisting diseases may in uence adaptive immune responses and that they may also be linked to the development of long COVID symptoms [25].…”

Cognition and Mental Health in Pediatric Patients Following COVID-19

“…Further research is needed to determine the potential protective effect of vaccination on the severity of neurocognitive symptoms in long COVID syndrome. In addition, the relationship between lifestyle and long COVID syndrome has been investigated in adults [ 45 ]. It would also be valuable to examine the effect of lifestyle on neurocognitive symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection in children in future studies.…”