Assessment of Post SARS CoV 2 Fatigue among Physicians Working in COVID Designated Hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Fatigue has been observed after a number of infectious disease outbreaks around the world. After the outbreak of SARS CoV-2 in Wuhan, China in 2019, the disease turned into a pandemic very rapidly. Mental health is a key issue associated with such outbreaks. To explore the fatigue level among physicians working in designated public and private hospitals in Bangladesh, we conducted a matched case-control study of post-SARS-CoV-2 fatigue. Method: In this study 105 physicians who were diagnosed as COVID-19 infected, got treatment, and declared cured at least 6 weeks before the interview date, were recruited as cases and the same number of age and designation matched healthy physicians as control who are working in the same hospital. Case and control were selected in 1:1 ratio from each of the hospitals. The study population was selected by inclusion and exclusion criteria after taking informed written consent. Data collection was done by a semi-structured questionnaire. Diagnosis of COVID--19 infection was done by detection of SARS CoV-2 antigen by RT-PCR from reference laboratories in Bangladesh or by HRCT Chest. Result: Around two-thirds of the physicians were male (67.6% versus 32.4%). Most of them aged less than forty years (80.5%). The cases had a greater number of comorbid conditions than those who were negative. The FSS score (mean) was much higher for cases (36.7 with standard deviation of 5.3 versus 19.3 standard deviation of 3.8) than the control group with a statistically significant difference with no significant gender differentiation. Similarly, around 67.7% of the previously COVID positive physicians represented in the highest FSS score tertile compared to the respondents in the control group had a mean score of less than 3. The difference was also highly significant. Conclusion: Physicians, who had a previous history of COVID-19 infection had a higher total and mean FSS score, signifying a more severe level of fatigue than the physicians who had never been COVID-19 positive while working in the same hospital irrespective of their age and sex.

Persistence of Fatigue among COVID-19 Survivors in Bangladesh: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…Locally, in a study conducted among physicians at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, fatigue level was found to be higher among SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals compared to control group. But, interestingly, no association could be established between fatigue and pre-existing co-morbidities, which are in stark contrast to our findings (Hasan et al, 2020). Another study conducted at same institution among post-COVID patients after one month, found 70% of study participants to be suffering from some form of fatigue (Mahmud et al, 2021).…”

Persistence of Fatigue among COVID-19 Survivors in Bangladesh: A Two-month after Follow-up Study

“…individuals compared to control group. But, interestingly, no association could be established between fatigue and pre-existing co-morbidities, which are in stark contrast to our findings(Hasan et al, 2020). Another study conducted at same institution among post-COVID patients after one month, found 70% of study participants to be suffering from some form of fatigue(Mahmud et al, 2021).…”

Prevalência de sinais e sintomas autorrelatados da COVID-19 por professores em Minas Gerais

“…A fadiga é um dos sintomas mais comuns em pacientes com COVID-19 14 . Além de estar presente nos quadros vigentes da infecção, alguns estudos demonstraram que seu desenvolvimento pode continuar em uma síndrome de fadiga pós-viral 15,16 , sendo demonstrada em estudo brasileiro, em que 57,2% (n=584) da amostra apresentaram persistência da fadiga pós COVID 14 .…”