Persistent effects of COVID‐19 in patients hospitalized during the first wave of the pandemic: The impact of persistent fatigue on quality of life in a cross‐sectional study

Abstract

COVID-19 can affect physical and mental health long after acute infection. In this descriptive study, 48 individuals hospitalized for COVID-19 between April and May 2020 were interviewed regarding their experience with COVID-19 after hospitalization. The mean age of participants was 51.1 (±11.91) years (range 25-65 years)and 26 (54.2%) were men. Individuals had a mean of 1.2 (±0.94) comorbidities associated with more severe COVID-19, with hypertension (37.5%) being most common. Nineteen (39.6%) individuals required treatment in the intensive care unit.Participants were interviewed a median time of 553 days (IQR, 405.5−589.0) after discharge from the hospital. Thirty-seven (77.1%) individuals had 5 or more persistent symptoms at time of interview with only 3 (6.3%) experiencing none. The most reported persistent symptoms were fatigue (79.2%), difficulty breathing (68.8%), and muscle weakness (60.4%). Poor quality of life was experienced by 39 (81.3%) participants and 8 (16.7%) had a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) score within the clinical range for diagnosis. For multivariable analyses, persistent fatigue was significantly predicted by number of symptoms during acute COVID-19 (t = 4.4, p < 0.001). Number of symptoms during acute COVID-19 was also significantly associated with persistent dyspnea (t = 3.4, p = 0.002). Higher scores on the Chalder fatigue scale after COVID-19 was significantly associated with poor quality of life (t = 2.6, p = 0.01) and PTSD symptomatology (t = 2.9, p = 0.008). More research is needed to highlight the wide range of resources those suffering from Long COVID require long after discharge.

Quality of life at work and fatigue after hospitalization due to COVID‐19

“…A recent American cross‐sectional study of 48 patients previously hospitalized due to COVID‐19 showed that fatigue was the most common persistent symptom affecting almost 80% of individuals 1.5 years after discharge, and its intensity correlated with lower QoL 17 . Furthermore, persistent fatigue was predicted by number of symptoms of COVID‐19 in acute phase of infection 17 . Instead, we were able to show that impairment in QoL at work after COVID‐19 was correlated with a number of symptoms of CFS.…”

Long‐term risk of herpes zoster following COVID‐19: A retrospective cohort study of 2 442 686 patients

“…Therefore, we suggest that excluding all patients who died within 1 year after the index date in an additional analysis would be more appropriate. 4,5 Although the long-term risk of herpes zoster following COVID-19 will require future studies to reach a final conclusion, we thank Chen et al for their excellent article and look forward to their response.…”

“…Wen-Bin Yeh 2 Hui-Yuan Chen 3 Su-Boon Yong 4 1 School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 2 Department of Emergency Medicine,…”

Surviving COVID-19 and beyond: a mixed-method study

“…In humans, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ranged from asymptomatic or mild form to severe symptomatic or even fatal (Wiersinga et al, 2020;Debata et al, 2020). Battling COVID-19 took toll on not just physical health but also negatively impacted quality-of-life (Skinner and Moran, 2023). Lockdown and limited social contacts adversely affected economic health (Dev and Sengupta, 2020).…”

“…, 2020). Battling COVID-19 took toll on not just physical health but also negatively impacted quality-of-life (Skinner and Moran, 2023). Lockdown and limited social contacts adversely affected economic health (Dev and Sengupta, 2020).…”