Post-COVID syndrome in symptomatic COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study

Although post-COVID symptoms have been documented in the literature, the risk factors and time required for full recovery remain unclear. We conducted a retrospective analysis of medical records of COVID-19 patients to investigate the prevalence of symptoms after an acute episode of COVID-19 and the risk factors for persistence of symptoms.

This retrospective cohort study analysis examined hospital records of post-COVID individuals with previously confirmed or probable SARS-CoV-2 infection and endurring symptom continuation for at least 3 months post-infection or presenting new symptoms persisting for at least 2 months. Follow-up was conducted during at least six months to access longer-term outcomes. The majority of patients received specialized examination and at least two medical examinations. Descriptive and logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the prevalence and risk factors for post-COVID syndrom.

The mean age of the 319 patients was 47.74 ± 11.61 years, and 225 (70.1%) were female. Of the 250/319 patients for whom information on acute infection was available; fever (60.8%), smell disorder (60.8%), asthenia (60.4%) and headache (59.2%) were the most frequent symptoms. The most frequent persisting symptoms were neurological (84.6%), asthenia (80.9%) and cardiac-respiratory symptoms (67.4%). About 80-81% patients reported symptom improvement at six to twelve months of follow-up. Being male and having fever or taste disorders during the acute phase of COVID-19 were independent risk factors for the persistence of long COVID symptoms.

These results could possibly serve to identify patients at a higher risk for the persistence of long COVID symptoms and target them for reinforced therapeutic measures.