Long-term COVID-19 effects on pulmonary function, exercise capacity, and health status

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The long-term effects of respiratory function and related physiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors have not yet been studied in depth. OBJECTIVE: To examine pulmonary function, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life among COVID-19 survivors. METHODS: Eighty-five survivors with confirmed COVID-19 were evaluated at the end of 3 and 6 months after disease onset. The assessment included lung function, diffusing capacity, 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and health status by the 36-item Short-Form General Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. RESULTS: Totally 85 survivors, 48 (56.5%) were men. The mean (standard deviation) age was 34.6 (9.9) years. Thirteen patients (15.2%) had medical co-morbidities the mean length of hospitalization was 18.5 (5.6) days. 25 (29.4%) required intensive care unit admission, whereas 6 (7%) of them required invasive mechanical ventilation. No significant differences were observed between lung volume parameters. At 6 months, there was a significant reduction in diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO), P = 0.02*. 25 (29.4%) of patients had impaired DLCO ≤80% predicted. Regarding 6MWD, a significant increase was noted in 6MWD from 486 ± 72 m at 3 months to 526 ± 82 m at 6 months ( P = 0.001*). The 6MWD was lower than that for normal controls of the same age groups. There was significant impairment of health status assessed by SF-36 questionnaire among COVID-19 survivors at 6 months as compared with controls of the same age groups. There were significant positive correlations between lung function parameters (FVC, VC, FEV1, and DlCO) with several SF-36 domains. CONCLUSION: In discharged survivors with COVID-19, 23.5% had significant impairment of diffusion capacity abnormality of lung function. The exercise capacity and health status were considerably lower than that of a normal population after 6 months postinfection.

Dynamic of SOFA Score Predicts Functionality after ARDS Therapy

“…It is unquestionable that patients with ARDS are at risk of sustaining long-term impairments. Previous studies have described impaired quality of life and pulmonary functions in patients with acute lung injury [5,12,[23][24][25][28][29][30][31][32][33] after ICU discharge.…”

The effect of child malnourishment on measles spread amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan

“…Wasting and stunting in malnourished children has also been associated with increased child mortality due to infectious diseases, such as pneumonia [ 15 ]. Bearing in mind COVID-19's long-lasting detrimental effects on overall health, especially lung function [ 16 ]and pneumonia as a complication of measles being an independent statistically significant risk factor for death [ 17 ], this situation gives a much bleaker outlook to the current measles outbreak with millions of children at risk of life-threatening complications. Unsurprisingly, case fatality rates have risen to 8–13%, as estimated by WHO [ 2 ].…”

Long-Term Health Consequences of SARS-CoV-2: Assumptions Based on SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV Infections

“…Along with digestive manifestations, hepatic disorders, including liver damage, has been reported during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with increased levels of aspartate amino-transferases and alanine amino-transferases [ 99 ]. A group of scientists observed biopsy reports of COVID-19-infected patients and revealed the pathological features of hepatic injuries, including portal inflammation, mild lobular inflammation and moderate microvascular stenosis [ 100 ]. Furthermore, pancreatic disorders that have been observed to be caused by SARS-CoV-2 in the human body include increased levels of amylase and lipase along with acute pancreatitis [ 92 , 101 ].…”

“…It has been observed that patients suffering from SARS-CoV-2 experienced long-term health effects, including widespread fatigue, psychological distress, chronic pain and disturbed sleep, which leads to failure to return productive work for at least one year after the acute trauma of pandemic [ 100 , 113 ]. Wu et al (2005) first noticed that 10–18% of SARS-CoV-1-recovered patients exhibited symptoms related to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders with elevated risk of severe symptoms of virus that have low emotional support and high-perceived life threats.…”