Spontaneously reported persistent symptoms related to coronavirus disease 2019 one year after hospital discharge, 2022, Zuschlag et al

Abstract

Background
There are no outcome studies for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors one year after hospital discharge in Germany.

Methods
This retrospective cohort study included all patients with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) hospitalized in the departments of internal medicine of the Klinikum Saarbrücken, a tertiary care hospital, between March 15 and December 31, 2020. A telephone interview with survivors was conducted at least 12 months after discharge. The interview was initiated with an open-ended question whether the patient had fully recovered from the disease. In the event of a subjective incomplete recovery, the patient was prompted to report any continuous or frequent symptoms that had not occurred prior to COVID-19. Finally, independent of the open-ended question response, all patients were asked closed questions which addressed new symptom onset of persistent fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, headache, muscle and joint pain following COVID-19.

Results
In all, 235 survivors were contacted and 162 could be included in the analysis. In 55 of 162 interviews (34.0%) at least one persistent COVID-19 symptom (PCS) was spontaneously reported. Four of 55 survivors with PCS reported five additional symptoms on the closed questions. One survivor, who responded positively to the open-ended question, reported new onset PCS in response to the closed questions. Physical fatigue (24.7%), cognitive dysfunction (14.8%), shortness of breath (8.6%), muscle and joint pain (6.8%) and headache (6.2%) were the most frequently reported PCS.

Conclusions
Despite an interview technique aimed to reduce attribution bias by patients, one third of COVID-19 inpatient survivors report PCS one year after hospitalization.

Open access, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00482-022-00626-0

 

My bolding.

"Conclusions for clinical practice

• The consequences of COVID-19 can be diverse and prolonged. Our results suggest that most patients will experience a self-limited acute infection with full recovery, but every third patient develops symptoms that persist for at least 1 year. For some COVID-19 survivors, persisting symptoms are sufficiently severe to preclude return to employment.
  
  
• New-onset headache and pain in muscles and joints are frequently associated with each other and with physical fatigue and cognitive disturbances.
  
  
• The severity of acute COVID-19 might increase the risk of post-COVID-19 conditions.
  
  
• Some post-COVID-19 symptoms such as shortness of breath can be explained by persistent structural changes of the pulmonary systems.
  
  
• The most frequently reported PCS, namely fatigue and cognitive disturbances, are common symptoms in the general population and should not be solely attributed to infection by SARS-CoV‑2 virus.
  
  
• Acute COVID-19 can worsen pre-existing diseases, e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia or FMS.
  
  
• Pain medicine physicians should be involved in the management of chronic pain (headache, musculoskeletal system) and mental health care specialist in the management of fatigue and cognitive problems after COVID-19."

 

I'll never stop marvelling at the mindlessness behind "you can ignore common symptoms of illness because it probably means no illness since we see them too commonly associated with illness".

A hurricane is coming, you say? Well, let's just focus on potential damage coming from anything but wind and water, since those are common to most weather events. Of all the professions, for medicine to have simply abandoned common sense...