Cross-sectional analysis of clinical aspects in patients with long-COVID and post-COVID syndrome
- \(\bf Objective:\) Regarding pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, at-risk individuals, and diagnostic methods for stratifying patients for therapeutic approaches, our understanding of post-COVID syndrome is limited. Here, we set out to assess sociodemographic and clinical aspects in patients with the long-COVID and post-COVID syndrome. \(\bf Methods:\) We performed a cross-sectional analysis of patients presenting at our specialized university hospital outpatient clinic. We assessed patients' clinical presentation, fatigue, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and impairment of smell. \(\bf Results:\) A total of 101 patients were included (73.3% female), of whom 78.2% had a mild course of COVID-19. At presentation, 93.1% suffered from fatigue, 82.2% from impaired concentration, and 79.2% from impaired memory, 53.5% had impaired sleep. The most common secondary diagnosis found in our cohort was thyroid disease. Fatigue analysis showed that 81.3% of female and 58.8% of male patients had severe combined fatigue. Female gender was an independent risk factor for severe fatigue (severe cognitive fatigue OR = 8.045, \(\it p\) = 0.010; severe motor fatigue OR = 7.698, \(\it p\) = 0.013). Males suffered from more depressive symptoms, which correlated positively with the duration of symptom onset. 70.3% of patients with anamnestic smell impairment had hyposmia, and 18.9% were anosmic. \(\bf Interpretation:\) Most long-COVID patients suffered from severe fatigue, with the female sex as an independent risk factor. Fatigue was not associated with symptoms of depression or anxiety. Patients with long-COVID symptoms should receive an interdisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic approach depending on the clinical presentation.
Author: | Hannah SchulzeGND, Jeyanthan Charles JamesGND, Nadine TrampeGND, Daniel RichterORCiDGND, Thivya PakeerathanGND, Nadine SiemsGND, Ilya AyzenbergORCiDGND, Ralf GoldORCiDGND, Simon Raoul FaissnerORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-103122 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2022.979152 |
Parent Title (English): | Frontiers in neurology |
Publisher: | Frontiers Research Foundation |
Place of publication: | Lausanne |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2023/10/27 |
Date of first Publication: | 2022/10/14 |
Publishing Institution: | Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek |
Tag: | Open Access Fonds COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; anxiety; depression; fatigue; post-COVID syndrome; smell disorder |
Volume: | 13 |
Issue: | Article 979152 |
First Page: | 979152-1 |
Last Page: | 979152-12 |
Note: | Article Processing Charge funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund of Ruhr-Universität Bochum. |
Institutes/Facilities: | St. Josef-Hospital Bochum, Neurologische Klinik |
open_access (DINI-Set): | open_access |
Licence (English): | Creative Commons - CC BY 4.0 - Attribution 4.0 International |