A 2-month post-COVID-19 follow-up study on patients with dyspnea

07, October 2021 |

Authors:

Abstract

Background and aims: Dyspnea is one of the most common symptoms associated with the COVID-19 caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of dyspnea, observe co-variables, and find predictors of dys- pnea after 2 months of recovery from COVID-19. Methods: A total of 377 patients were included in the study based on their responses and clinical findings during initial admission to the hospital with COVID-19. After exclud- ing five deceased patients, a total of 327 patients were interviewed through telephone using a 12-point dyspnea scale and using relevant questions to gauge the patient clini- cally. Interviews were carried out by trained physicians, and responses were recorded and stored. All analyses were carried out using the statistical programming language R. Results: Of the total 327 participants in the study, 34% had stated that they were suffering from respiratory symptoms even after 2 months of COVID-19. The study demonstrated that patient oxygen saturation level SpO2 (P = .03), D-dimer (P = .001), serum ferritin (P = .006), and the presence and severity of dyspnea are significantly correlated. In addition to that, patient smoking history (P = .012) and comorbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (P = .021) were found to be statistically significant among groups. Conclusion: These findings of this study can be useful for predicting and managing long-term complications of COVID-19.