Frontiers in Medicine (May 2022)

15-Month Health Outcomes and the Related Risk Factors of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients From Onset: A Cohort Study

  • Liang-Liang Sun,
  • Jian Wang,
  • Yu-Sheng Wang,
  • Xiao Pan,
  • Jun Luo,
  • Hua Liu,
  • Yi-Rou Jiang,
  • Xin Zhuang,
  • Liang Lin,
  • Gan-Cheng Li,
  • Jun-Wei Zhao,
  • Wei Wang,
  • Yuan-Jing Wang,
  • Zhi-Hao Wang,
  • Hong-Biao Shan,
  • Shuai-Shuai Chen,
  • Jun-Lin Chen,
  • Zhao-Wei Xu,
  • Yong-Hai Bai,
  • Hai Huang,
  • Hai Huang,
  • Wei-Fen Xie

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.854788
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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ObjectiveThe long-term impact of COVID-19 on patient health has been a recent focus. This study aims to determine the persistent symptoms and psychological conditions of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 15 months after onset, that patients first developed symptoms. The potential risk factors were also explored.MethodsA cohort of COVID-19 patients discharged from February 20, 2020 to March 31, 2020 was recruited. Follow-ups were conducted using validated questionnaires and psychological screening scales at 15 months after onset to evaluate the patients' health status. The risk factors for long-term health impacts and their associations with disease severity was analyzed.Findings534 COVID-19 patients were enrolled. The median age of the patients was 62.0 years old (IQR 52.0–70.0) and 295 were female (55.2%). The median time from onset to follow-up was 460.0 (451.0–467.0) days. Sleep disturbance (18.5%, 99/534) and fatigue (17.2%, 92/534) were the most common persistent symptoms. 6.4% (34/534) of the patients had depression, 9.2% (49/534) were anxious, 13.0% (70/534) had insomnia and 4.7% (25/534) suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Multivariate adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that glucocorticoid use during hospitalization (OR 3.58, 95% CI 1.12–11.44) was significantly associated with an increased risk of fatigue. The OR values for anxiety and sleep disorders were 2.36 (95% CI 1.07–5.20) and 2.16 (95% CI 1.13–4.14) in females to males. The OR value of PTSD was 25.6 (95% CI 3.3–198.4) in patients with persistent symptoms to those without persistent symptoms. No significant associations were observed between fatigue syndrome or adverse mental outcomes and disease severity.Conclusions15-month follow-up in this study demonstrated the need of extended rehabilitation intervention for complete recovery in COVID-19 patients.

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