Post-acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Do Indians Fare Better?

The uplift of SARS-CoV-2 infection has necessitated the understanding of long-term consequences in the affected population. This study was driven by a lack of Indian studies to estimate the torment of post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms and the quality of life.

This prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care centre in South India, between August and November 2020. SARS-CoV-2 hospitalised patients were telephonically questioned regarding the persistence of symptoms along with an assessment of the quality of life using the 15D questionnaire in the first, second, and fourth weeks. Since a majority of the patients had resolution of symptoms by four weeks, the study was not extended for a longer period.

The study included 476 patients whose mean length of hospital stay was 7.67 days. Of the patients, 68.7% had mild severity, 24.8% had moderate disease, and 6.5% had severe disease. About 28.4% required oxygen, 8.2% required ICU care, and 1.3% required mechanical ventilation. Myalgia (13.9%), cough (1.3%), and dyspnoea (6.1%) were the predominant persistent symptoms in the fourth-week post-discharge. All the symptoms of health-related quality of life and physical performance improved by the fourth week, which was statistically significant.

Our study findings are in stark contrast to the studies published from other regions of the world, which show a significant worsening of quality of life even among those with mild illness.