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As COVID-19 is a relatively new disease, its long-term health consequences are not well described. Investigators in Wuhan, China, studied the health condition of 1733 patients discharged from the hospital after admission for acute COVID-19 from January through May 2020 (median age, 57; 52% men, 48% women; median time from discharge to assessment, 153 days). Participants underwent interviews, physical examinations, laboratory tests, and a 6-minute walking test.
Seventy six percent of patients reported at least one symptom at follow-up, more commonly among women and patients with more-severe disease. The most frequent symptoms were fatigue or muscle weakness (63%) and sleep difficulties (26%). Participants who had required a high-flow nasal cannula, mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were more likely to have persistent symptoms and to have lung diffusion impairment; almost one third of these failed to meet the lower limit of normal in the 6-minute walk. Anxiety or depression were experienced by 23% of patients.
Huang C et al. 6-month consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: A cohort study. Lancet 2021 Jan 16; 397:220. (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32656-8)
Comment
Among patients discharged from the hospital after COVID-19 and followed for 6 months, those with more-severe disease were more likely to have lingering symptoms and impaired pulmonary diffusion capacity. While these data are clinically significant, they may simply represent lasting effects of severe lung disease from COVID-19 rather than a specific effect of the virus. Studies are underway to understand the full range of COVID-19's long-term health consequences — not just those associated with hospitalization for severe disease.