Post COVID-19 condition in low risk, non-hospitalized patients

Abstract

Background and Aims Post COVID-19 condition is defined as signs and symptoms that develop during or after COVID-19 infection and continue for more than 12 weeks. Recent studies demonstrate that various symptoms persist after severe COVID-19 infection. However, there is not much data on the long-term effects of mild COVID-19 infection. The purpose of this study is to investigate post COVID-19 condition in patients under the age of 60 without comorbidities.

Methods This study was multicenter prospective observation study and was conducted in 12 institutions between January and August 2022. Symptoms of participants were assessed by telephone survey.

Results A total of 446 participants were enrolled. The median age was 32 years and 24.2% (108/446) were male.Three months after COVID-19 infection, 247 participants (55.4%) had symptoms and 169 participants (37.9%) had two or more symptoms. Most common symptoms were fatigue (31.8%) and respiratory symptoms (30%). Assessment of the hospital anxiety depression scale revealed that 5.5% of participants had anxiety and 12.5% had depression 3 months after COVID-19 infection. Quality of life scores measured using EQ-5D were lower in participants with symptoms after 3 months than those without symptoms(p<0.001).

Conclusion This study demonstrated that approximately 40 % of the participants under the age of 60 without comorbidities experienced multiple symptoms and these symptoms reduced their quality of life. Considering this age group is economically active population, we should detect and treat their post COVID-19 condition in patients under the age of 60 to decrease the socio-economy burden of COVID-19.

Reference COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19. London: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2020 Dec 18. PMID: 33555768

Disclosure Statement The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research