According to research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, even two years after being infected with Covid-19, half of the individuals brought to the hospital still have at least one symptom.
To date, this is the longest follow-up up of its kind, with the Lancet study finding that patients who have recovered from Covid-19 tend to be in poorer health two years later than those who have not recovered.
The researchers tracked 1,192 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 in China throughout the early stages of the pandemic in 2020.
Covid-19 patients’ physical and mental health improved over time, but the data reveals that they still have a lower quality of life than the overall population.
Peer-reviewed study press release: “This is especially the case for people with protracted Covid who often still have at least one symptom, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and sleep issues two years after originally falling ill”
Covid-19 survivors who have been in the hospital for more than two years may not have entirely recovered from the illness, according to Professor Bin Cao of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, China.
“Ongoing follow-up of Covid-19 survivors, particularly those with symptoms of extended Covidien, is critical to understand the longer course of illness and further examination of the benefits of rehabilitation programs for recovery,” according to Cao, the study’s lead author.
When it comes to supporting those who have had Covid-19, “there is a definite need to give continuous support for a considerable number of those who have received Covid-19,” Cao said.
Although Covid-19 has been studied extensively, nothing is known about its long-term effects because the longest follow-up period is just one year.
This study found it “impossible to assess how good patients with Covid-19 have recovered” because there were no baselines or comparisons with the general population prior to introducing Covid-19 in most studies.
WHAT WERE THE FINDINGS OF THE EXPERIMENT?
According to the Chinese study, 68% of patients experienced at least one long Covid symptom six months after they first became unwell. After two years, just 55% of people had reported symptoms.
The most common complaint was fatigue or muscle weakness, which decreased from 52% at six months to 30% at two years. According to research, 89 percent of individuals had returned to work within two years following their first illness, regardless of how severe it was.
31 percent of Covid patients experience weariness or physical weakness, and 31 percent of Covid patients report sleep problems two years after they first became ill. These symptoms were reported by only 5% and 14% of non-Covid participants, respectively.”
The study concluded that patients on Covid-19 were also more likely to complain of joint pain, palpitations, dizziness, and headaches. Patients with Covid have higher rates of pain, anxiety, and sadness on quality-of-life surveys than non-Covid patients.
A total of 54% of participants were men, with an average age of 57 when they were discharged from the study.
The quality of life of individuals with extended Covid was significantly lower than that of those without it in the study, which found that about half of the patients had symptoms at two years. Anxiety and depression were cited by 19 percent of those surveyed in mental health questionnaires.
These symptoms were reported by ten percent and four percent of Covid-19 patients at two years, respectively. Additionally, those with long Covid were more likely to report issues with mobility or activity than those without long Covid.
WHERE DID YOU FIND THE DATA?
Covid-19 survivors who were hospitalized for a long period of time were the primary focus of the current study, according to a press statement.
Between January 7 and May 29, 2020, Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan, China treated 1,192 patients with acute Covid for six months, a year, and two years, respectively.
In addition to the six-minute walk test and laboratory testing, patients were also asked about their symptoms, mental health, quality of life, whether or not they had returned to work, and how often they used health care after being discharged.
Participants with and without long-term Covid symptoms were compared to assess the detrimental impacts on quality of life, exercise ability, mental health, and healthcare use, according to the press release.
Source: NEWS18
