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. 2024 Apr 22;11(2):105-114.
doi: 10.14744/nci.2023.58908. eCollection 2024.

Evaluation of post-acute-COVID-19, and long-COVID symptoms with a questionnaire: Within one year, a longitudinal study

Canan Emiroglu  1 , Murat Dicle  1 , Serap Demirelli Ozagar  1 , Suleyman Gorpelioglu  1 , Cenk Aypak  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of post-acute-COVID-19, and long-COVID symptoms with a questionnaire: Within one year, a longitudinal study

Canan Emiroglu et al. North Clin Istanb. .

Abstract

Objective: Long-term consequences of COVID-19 vary widely, representing a growing global health challenge. The aim of this report was to define the presence of symptoms in post-acute-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) patients and to assess the frequency, associated factors, and the spectrum of persistent symptoms.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, 487 adults with a previously diagnosed "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2) who admitted to COVID-19 follow-up outpatient clinic between December 1, 2020 and November 31, 2021 were interviewed face-to-face three times. Data was collected on patient demographics, comorbidities, and symptoms. A questionnaire of 160 questions was asked and organized into the following: identification and consent, socio-demographic/epidemiological characteristics, previous medical history, diagnosis and clinical presentation of acute COVID-19, as well as systematic symptoms. Data were evaluated using univariate comparisons and multiple logistic regression.

Results: The most prevalent symptoms among all PCS patients during their initial visit were dyspnea, weakness, forgetfulness, fatigue, and arthralgia respectively. The most common symptoms in patients with 6 months or more time from discharge to follow-up at the first and second visits, appear to be persistent. While incidence rates decreased by the third visit, the five most common symptoms remained the same. The possibility of weakness and arthralgia was found to be higher in non-hospitalized patients. Females were associated with the most common persistent symptoms and the strongest association was with arthralgia.

Conclusion: A large number of COVID-19 survivors had continuing symptoms at the first year of post-COVID-19-infection. Neither the presence of comorbidities of the patient nor smoking status were associated with the severity of PCS symptoms. A better understanding of the mechanisms, predisposing factors and evaluation require a multidisciplinary team approach.

Keywords: Long COVID; post-COVID syndrome; post-acute-COVID-19 syndrome; risk factors; symptoms.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The most common symptoms of all (n=487) patients at three visits.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The most common symptoms at three separate visits of 128 patients with 6–11 weeks.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The most common symptoms at three visits of 214 patients with 12–23 weeks between discharge (or recovery from disease) and beginning of follow-up.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The most common symptoms at three visits of 145 patients with 6 months or more between discharge (or recovery from disease) and beginning of follow-up.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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