7 in 10 hospitalised Covid patients didn’t fully recover 5 months after discharge: Study | 10 common symptoms

According to the study, only 29% of the participants felt fully recovered at follow-up after five months and 20% reported a new disability.

The majority of individuals hospitalised with coronavirus disease (Covid-19) did not fully recover even five months after they were discharged, according to a new UK study. The researchers found that the patients continued to experience the negative impacts of the infection on their physical and mental health as well as their ability to work.

Patients with Covid-19 are seen in a hospital in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (AP)

The UK-wide study, led by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), analysed 1,077 Covid-19 patients who were discharged from hospitals between March and November 2020. Among the participants, 69% were white, 36% were women, with a mean age of 58, and 50% had at least two co-morbidities.

According to the study, only 29% of the participants felt fully recovered at follow-up after five months and 20% reported a new disability. Those who have the most severe prolonged symptoms were middle-aged white women with two or more co-morbidities, such as asthma or diabetes. As per the study, over 25% of participants displayed clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression while 12% showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“Our results show a large burden of symptoms, mental and physical health problems and evidence of organ damage five months after discharge with Covid-19,” Dr Rachael Evans, a respiratory consultant at Leicester’s Hospitals, said in a statement.

“It is also clear that those who required mechanical ventilation and were admitted to intensive care take longer to recover,” she added.

The researchers classified the types of recovery into four different groups based on the participants’ mental and physical health impairments. One of the groups showed impaired cognitive function, which has colloquially been called ‘brain fog’, the study said.

The researchers suggested a different underlying mechanism for the ‘brain fog’ compared to other symptoms as the cognitive impairment, according to them, was “striking even when taking education levels into account.” Researchers also found that each participant had an average of nine persistent symptoms.

Here’s the list of the 10 most common symptoms reported in the study:

1. Muscle pain

2. Fatigue

3. Physical slowing down

4. Impaired sleep quality

5. Joint pain or swelling

6. Limb weakness

7. Breathlessness

8. Pain

9. Short-term memory loss

10. Slowed thinking