Prevalence of Symptoms in Patients Discharged from COVID Care Facility of NIMS Hospital: Is RT PCR Negativity Truly Reflecting Recovery? A Single-Centre Observational Study

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of post-COVID symptoms in patients with recovered COVID-19 (nasopharyngeal RT PCR negative) who were discharged from an acute COVID care facility at a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India. Methods: This study was an observational study with retrospective data collection, conducted in the COVID follow-up clinic, a combined clinic of medicine and endocrinology. Patients discharged from the acute COVID care facility were recruited after 14 days of discharge if they fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria. The retrospective data was collected from the hospital records/EMR and analysed by the SPSSv23. Results: Fifty patients, who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were included in the study. The Mean age of patients was 53.4±13.8 years (range 28-77). Seventy six percent were male, and 38% had type 2 diabetes. Fever (94%), cough (78%) and breathlessness (68%), were the most common symptoms at presentation to acute care facility. Oxygen saturation at presentation had a negative correlation with D-Dimer, age, and C reactive protein. When patients were evaluated clinically, after 14 days (range 15 to 50 days) of the discharge, 82% of patients had at least one persistent symptom. Fatigue (74%) was the most common symptoms in follow-up followed by breathlessness (44%), and muscle weakness (36%). Two patients had persistent fever, even after negative RT PCR status. Conclusion: Patients discharged from the acute COVID care facility had a high prevalence of post-COVID symptoms even after 14 days.

Risk factors and severity of functional impairment in long COVID: a single-center experience in Croatia

“…A number of patients recovering from acute COVID-19 have persistent or newly developed symptoms affecting their quality of life ( 8 ). Beside physical symptoms such as fatigue, cough, chest pain, and headaches, there are persisting psychological problems including insomnia, short-term memory loss, anxiety, and depression ( 9 - 12 ). Long COVID may manifest as respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, or psychological symptoms, but new manifestations are increasingly being described, such as post-COVID cholangiopathy ( 13 - 17 ).…”

Association of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and D-dimer concentration on the severity of COVID-19 cases with or without diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A retrospective study design was adopted in most of the research, and observational and case-control studies were adopted. A total of 2855 diabetes and 6457 non-diabetes patient from 29 studies on CRP [ 37–64 ]; 1878 diabetes and 4114 non-diabetes patient from 18 studies on D-dimer [ 41–44 , 46–48 , 51 , 52 , 54–56 , 59 , 60 , 62–65 ] were included in our study. The majority of the experiment (n = 20) were administered in Asia (Singapore n = 1; China, n = 14; India, n = 1; Kuwait, n = 1; Qatar, n = 1; Iran, n = 1) where three studies were in North America (UK, N = 1; USA, n = 2) and six studies in Europe (Italy, n = 3; Belgium, n = 1; France, n = 2).…”

“…The majority of the experiment (n = 20) were administered in Asia (Singapore n = 1; China, n = 14; India, n = 1; Kuwait, n = 1; Qatar, n = 1; Iran, n = 1) where three studies were in North America (UK, N = 1; USA, n = 2) and six studies in Europe (Italy, n = 3; Belgium, n = 1; France, n = 2). Among the studies, the largest sample size was 1206 conducted in France [ 59 ], and the smallest sample size was 39 conducted in India [ 60 ].…”

Global prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome among long COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…However, there are a number of causes suggested in existing studies including virus dose and host dependence or host resistance [ 49 ]. Low-grade muscle damage and inflammation, neuropathy, myopathy following COVID-19, and immobility due to the severity of the disease may cause fatigue [ 52 , 54 ]. Additionally, lung disorders caused by COVID-19 are suggested as other triggers [ 76 ].…”