Clinical status of patients 1 year after hospital discharge following recovery from COVID-19: a prospective cohort study

Dapeng Li(Southern University of Science and Technology), Xuejiao Liao(Southern University of Science and Technology), Zhenghua Ma(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Lina Zhang(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Jingke Dong(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Guoqin Zheng(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Mei Zi(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Wujian Peng(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Lanlan Wei(Southern University of Science and Technology), Zhiyan Li(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Yingjun Kong(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Lifei Wang(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Dongjing Liu(Southern University of Science and Technology), Fang Wang(Southern University of Science and Technology), Qing‐Yu He(Southern University of Science and Technology), Guobao Li(Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital), Zheng Zhang(Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College), Lei Liu(Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College)
Annals of Intensive Care
January 1, 2022
10.1186/s13613-022-01034-4
Cited by 25Open Access
Full Text

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The long-term clinical status of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in recovered patients remains largely unknown. This prospective cohort study evaluated clinical status of COVID-19 and explored the associated risk factors. METHODS: At the outpatient visit, patients underwent routine blood tests, physical examinations, pulmonary function tests, 6-min walk test, high-resolution computed tomography (CT) of the chest, and extrapulmonary organ function tests. RESULTS: 230 patients were analyzed. Half (52.7%) reported at least one symptom, most commonly fatigue (20.3%) and sleep difficulties (15.8%). Anxiety (8.2%), depression (11.3%), post-traumatic symptoms (10.3%), and sleep disorders (26.3%) were also reported. Diffusion impairments were found in 35.4% of the patients. Abnormal chest CT scans were present in 63.5% of the patients, mainly reticulation and ground-glass opacities. Further, a persistent decline in kidney function was observed after discharge. SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies of IgA, IgG, and IgM were positive in 56.4%, 96.3%, and 15.2% of patients, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression showed that disease severity, age, and sex were closely related to patient recovery. CONCLUSIONS: One year after hospital discharge, patients recovered from COVID-19 continued to experience both pulmonary and extrapulmonary dysfunction. While paying attention to pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19, follow-up studies on extrapulmonary manifestations should be strengthened.

Related Papers

Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China
Chaolin Huang, Yeming Wang, Xingwang Li et al.|The Lancet|2020|51.8k
Cardiovascular Implications of Fatal Outcomes of Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Tao Guo, Yongzhen Fan, Ming Chen et al.|JAMA Cardiology|2020|4.3k
Extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19
Aakriti Gupta, Mahesh V. Madhavan, Kartik Sehgal et al.|Nature Medicine|2020|3.3k
Time Course of Lung Changes at Chest CT during Recovery from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Feng Pan, Tianhe Ye, Peng Sun et al.|Radiology|2020|3k
Kidney disease is associated with in-hospital death of patients with COVID-19
Yichun Cheng, Ran Luo, Kun Wang et al.|Kidney International|2020|2.9k