Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: Nine Months after SARS-CoV-2 Infection in a Cohort of 354 Patients: Data from the First Wave of COVID-19 in Nord Franche-Comté Hospital, France

Abstract

(1) Background. Post-COVID-19 syndrome is defined as the persistence of symptoms after confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. (2) Methods. ANOSVID is an observational retrospective study in Nord Franche-Comté Hospital in France that included adult COVID-19 patients confirmed by RT-PCR from 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2020. The aim was to describe patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome with persistent symptoms (PS group) and to compare them with the patients without persistent symptoms (no-PS group). (3) Results. Of the 354 COVID-19 patients, 35.9% (n = 127) reported persistence of at least one symptom after a mean of 289.1 ± 24.5 days after symptom onset. Moreover, 115 patients reported a recurrence of symptoms after recovery, and only 12 patients reported continuous symptoms. The mean age of patients was 48.6 years (19–93) ± 19.4, and 81 patients (63.8%) were female. Patients in the PS group had a longer duration of symptoms of initial acute SARS-CoV-2 infection than patients in the no-PS group (respectively, 57.1 ± 82.1 days versus 29.7 ± 42.1 days, p < 0.001). A majority of patients (n = 104, 81.9%) reported three or more symptoms. The most prevalent persistent symptoms were loss of smell (74.0%, n = 94), fatigue (53.5%, n = 68), loss of taste (31.5%, n = 40), and dyspnea (30.7%, n = 39). These were followed by pain symptoms (26.8% (n = 34), 26.0% (n = 33), 24.4% (n = 31); headache, arthralgia, and myalgia, respectively). More than half of patients reporting persistent symptoms (58%, n = 73) were healthcare workers (HCWs). Among outpatients, this population was more present in the PS group than the no-PS group ((86.6%) n = 71/82 versus (72.2%) n = 109/151, p = 0.012). Post-COVID-19 syndrome was more frequent in patients with a past history of chronic rhinosinusitis (8.7% (n = 11%) versus 1.3% (n = 3), p < 0.001). No significant difference was found regarding clinical characteristics and outcome, laboratory, imaging findings, and treatment received in the two groups. (4) Conclusions. More than a third of our COVID-19 patients presented persistent symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly through loss of smell, loss of taste, fatigue, and dyspnea, with a high prevalence in HCWs among COVID-19 outpatients.

COVEVOL: Natural Evolution at 6 Months of COVID-19

“…In our study, HCWs were more represented in the R group. ANOSVID, another study conducted in our institution [51], found similar results and suggested that recrudescent or persistent symptoms could be favored by post-traumatic stress or due to stress generated by the responsibility of care in the epidemic context. However, there is currently no description in the literature of specific clinical or demographic characteristics that could predict the resurgence of symptoms.…”

Persistent Post-COVID-19 Syndrome in Hemodialyzed Patients—A Longitudinal Cohort Study from the North of Poland

“…On the other hand, the prevalence of symptoms that remain 12 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients non-hospitalized may be as small as 3.0%, based on tracking specific symptoms (tighter definition), to 11.7% based on the wider questionnaire which includes the questions about the 21-symptom list that was recently reported from 26,922 UK residents by The Office for National Statistics [15]. Numerous studies report intermediate prevalence rates between the above-mentioned ones [16,17]. The results clearly indicate that age, being female, poor general health, pre-existing health conditions, high viral load, obesity or being overweight and white ethnicity were associated with higher risk of long COVID in the majority of the studies [7,11,12,15].…”

Positive Predictive Value of the ICD-10 Diagnosis Code for Long-COVID

“…Of note, the demographic composition and clinical presentation of long-COVID patients in the current study was comparable to other reports on long-COVID. [20][21][22] Several previous studies on long-COVID were conducted before the availability of specific diagnosis codes for long-COVID or before outpatient clinics were established to manage these complex patients. 8,23 Moreover, most studies have been based on clinical cohorts with inherent limitations in sample size and followup.…”

“…8,23 Moreover, most studies have been based on clinical cohorts with inherent limitations in sample size and followup. [4][5][6]21,22 These combined considerations highlight the need for additional registry-based research using specific and validated diagnosis codes in large population-based cohorts of previously hospitalized and nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients with matched control groups in order to learn more about long-COVID and the potential consequences of the disease.…”