Half of Covid-hospitalised still symptomatic two years on, study finds

The longest follow-up study of its kind found that more than half of people who were hospitalized with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years later.

While physical and mental health generally improve over time, the analysis suggests that coronaviruses patients discharged from hospital still tend to experience poorer health and quality of life than the general population. The research was published in a journal.

The lead author of the study said that for a certain proportion of hospitalized Covid-19 survivors, more than two years is needed to recover fully.

The long-term health effects of Covid-19 have remained largely unknown, as the longest follow-up studies to date have spanned about a year. It is difficult to determine how well patients with Covid-19 have recovered because of the lack of pre- Covid-19 health status data.

Researchers wanted to analyse the long-term health outcomes of hospitalized Covid-19 survivors, as well as specific health impacts of long Covid. They evaluated the health of 1,192 participants with acute Covid-19 treated at Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan, China, between January and May 2020. At discharge, the average age was 57.

Assessments included a six-minute walking test, laboratory tests, and questionnaires on symptoms, mental health, health-related quality of life, and whether they had returned to work and healthcare use after discharge. A control group of people with no history of Covid-19 infections were used to determine health outcomes at two years.

More than half of the patients reported at least one long Covid symptom after six months. More than half of the people who were infections two years ago still have symptoms. muscle weakness and fatigue were the most reported. One in 10 patients had not returned to work two years after their illness.

Two years after falling ill, the patients were in poorer health than the general population, with 31% reporting fatigue or muscle weakness and 31% reporting sleep difficulties. 5% and 14% of non- Covid-19 participants reported these symptoms. The Covid-19 patients were more likely to report a number of other symptoms. In quality of life questionnaires, Covid-19 survivors are more likely to report pain, anxiety, and depression than non- Covid-19 participants.

Limitations were acknowledged by the authors. The long-term health outcomes of patients with subsequent variant infections may not be directly related to the findings of the single-centre study. Information bias can be found in most Covid-19 follow-up studies.

The follow-up of Covid-19 survivors, particularly those with symptoms of long Covid, is essential to understand the longer course of the illness, as is further exploration of the benefits of rehabilitation programmes for recovery.