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FRIDAY January 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) – More than 60% of patients with COVID-19 believe they have not returned to full health by a median of 75 days after diagnosis, according to a study published online on 8 january in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
Liam Townsend, MB, B.Ch., Ph.D., of St. James Hospital, Dublin, and colleagues describe respiratory recovery and self-reported medical condition following infection at the time of outpatient consultation in patients with COVID-19. A total of 487 patients were offered an outpatient appointment, of which 31 percent (153 participants) presented for an assessment at a median 75 days after diagnosis. In an acute infection, 48 percent of these patients required hospitalization.
The researchers found that 4% of the participants had persistent abnormal chest x-rays. The median distance of the six-minute covered walk test was 460 m; there was a correlation between the reduced distance covered by frailty and the length of stay in hospital. Overall, 62 percent of participants felt they had not returned to full health; 47% of the definition of fatigue was met. An increased perception of exertion has been observed in association with persistent poor health and fatigue. No association was observed between measures of persistent respiratory disease and initial disease severity.
“These findings have implications for clinical care, in that they demonstrate the importance of following up all patients diagnosed with COVID-19, regardless of the severity of the initial infection,” Townsend said in a communicated. “It is not possible to predict who will have persistent symptoms.”
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