The most common persistent symptoms in patients with COVID-19 who were evaluated in the Internal Medicine polyclinic

Year 2023, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 97 - 107, 04.01.2023

Zeynep Koç Seydahmet Akın

https://doi.org/10.18621/eurj.1110080

Abstract

Objectives: To identify continuing symptoms of individuals in the post-COVID period. To begin with our study was planned to research the most common persistent symptoms in the post-COVID period, and additionally to research whether or not there were differences between the most frequent initial symptoms in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd waves of the pandemic.

Methods: Cases attending the internal medicine clinic infected with COVID-19 who were minimum 120 days past the infection were included in the study. The study was shaped by responses of cases to open-ended questions.

Results: From a total of 2,802 clinical attendances, 1,005 cases were included in the study. Of cases, 9.3% required clinical monitoring and 1.7% required intensive care during infection. The mean number of persistent symptoms was 1.38, with the most common persistent symptoms being 11.2% fatigue/tiredness, 6.1% shortness of breath, and 4.6% back and low back pain. Mean number of initial symptoms was 1.63, with the most common initial symptoms being 21.2% fatigue, 19.4% fever and 19.1% headache. Persistent chest pain was most common among those infected in the 1st wave, while there were no other significant differences observed between pandemic waves.

Conclusions: The most common persistent symptoms were consistent with the general literature data; however, our condition of minimum 120 days past infection allowed a range of symptoms to ameliorate. Our results are more realistic in this way. A range of rare persistent symptoms emerging in our results were not encountered in the literature, while our study is unique as there is no other study comparing pandemic periods.

Keywords

COVID-19, persistent symptom, post-COVID-19

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