Two years after being hospitalized with COVID-19, survivors of the virus are still not in the same level of health as those who have never caught it, according to a new study.
And half of these patients still experience at least one symptom related to the virus, suggesting that long-term COVID may affect patients even longer than expected.
The study, published last week in the scientific journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, tracked 1,192 patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 at Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan, China between early January 2020 and late May 2020.
As the study looks at participants infected at the outset of the pandemic, it is one of the longest-running data we have on the lasting effects of COVID-19, shedding more light on how the pandemic could leave large sections of the population with long-term problems. for years.
“Our findings show that some of the hospitalized COVID-19 survivors, although they may have cleared the initial infection, need more than two years to fully recover from COVID-19,” said Bin Cao, China’s vice president. -Japan Friendship Hospital and lead author of the study, said in a press release.
“Continued follow-up of COVID-19 survivors, especially those with symptoms of long-term COVID, is essential for understanding the longer course of the disease, as well as further exploring the benefits of rehabilitation rehabilitation programs. There is a clear need to provide ongoing support to a significant proportion of people who have had COVID-19 and to understand how vaccines, emerging treatments and options affect long-term health outcomes.
This is not the first time that data from this cohort has been released – the researchers published the results of patients in 2021, who looked at their health in six-month and one-year assessments.
All results were compared with a control group that never received COVID-19, and age, gender, and comorbidity were compared with the cohort of patients in the study. The average age of 1192 patients was 57 years, and women were slightly younger, 46%.
To assess patients’ health at follow-up examinations, most of which were done in person, the researchers included a physical examination, a six-minute walking test and laboratory tests, as well as studies related to symptoms, quality of life, mental health and more. aspects of their lives in the period after they recovered from COVID-19 and were allowed to leave the hospital.
TIME HELPS…
Overall, the health of COVID-19 survivors has improved over time, the data show. The percentage of patients who reported experiencing anxiety or depression dropped from 23% every six months to 12% every two years.
While 14% of participants had difficulty walking in the 6-minute test during the six-month follow-up, this number dropped to eight percent after two years.
Two years later, 89% of COVID-19 survivors who had jobs before the pandemic returned to their original jobs.
And with regard to long-term COVID, about 68% of patients had at least one long-term symptom of COVID-19 at six-month intervals, compared with 55% two years after infection with the virus.
… BUT COVID-19 HAS LONG DATA FOR MANY
The results still show that prolonged COVID affects a large number of people for longer than originally expected.
Of the long-term symptoms patients described, the most common were either fatigue or muscle weakness, with 31 percent reporting having one or both. On top of that, although patients have improved over time, they still report poorer mental and physical health than the general population.
“COVID-19 survivors still had more common symptoms and more problems with pain or discomfort, as well as anxiety or depression, at age two than controls,” the study said.
Just under a third of participants also reported sleep difficulties two years after infection with COVID-19, compared with just 14% of the total population represented by the control group.
COVID-19 survivors reported pain or discomfort at more than four times the frequency of the control group and were more than twice as likely to report anxiety or depression.
And those with long-term COVID had to use health care more often, even two years after contracting the virus. About 26% of those who still experience at least one symptom related to the virus report a recent outpatient visit, compared with 11% of participants without prolonged COVID.
“As far as we know, this is the longest longitudinal cohort study of individuals who have survived hospitalization with COVID-19,” the study said. “The long-term symptoms of COVID at the age of two were associated with reduced quality of life, lower exercise capacity, abnormal mental health and increased use of post-discharge health care.
Numerous studies have recently been published that attempt to quantify the long-term effects of COVID on patients’ bodies and minds. A study published in early May found that the cognitive effects of long-term COVID in those assessed six months after their acute illness were equivalent to 20 years of aging.
Researchers in this new study say more research will be needed to figure out how to combat it.
“The negative effect on quality of life, exercise capacity and health care use underscores the importance of studying the pathogenesis of long-term COVID and promoting targeted treatment research to manage or alleviate the condition,” the study said.
There are several limitations to the study, such as the fact that all patients were admitted to one hospital. Some, who were originally part of the cohort, did not return for one-year and two-year follow-up, and it is not known whether their presence would confirm the long COVID rates or if they dropped out due to no symptoms to report.
Because the study looked at those who became infected with COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, its results may not be applicable to those who became infected with later variants of the virus, emphasizing the importance of monitoring and studying long-term COVID in more patients across the country. The globe.
“COVID-19 survivors have not returned to the same health status as the general population two years after the acute infection, so continuous monitoring is needed to characterize the long natural history of long-term COVID; we plan to conduct annual follow-ups in this group “, the authors of the study write.
“The value of rehabilitation programs to mitigate the effects of long-term COVID and to accelerate recovery requires further study.”
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