A year after falling ill with COVID-19, nearly half the patients who had been hospitalized with the virus were still experiencing at least one lingering symptom, states a study in The Lancet. 

The study involved 1,276 patients, average age 57, who were admitted to Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan, China, and who were discharged between January 7 and May 29, 2020.

Not the Most Debilitated Patients

The patients, who were sick enough to be hospitalized, but who were not generally the most severely debilitated, were surveyed regarding their health and quality of life and were given physical exams, lab tests, and the six-minute walk test, a standard measure of aerobic capacity and endurance. Approximately 75% of the patients required supplemental oxygen, but most did not require high-flow nasal oxygen, ventilators, or intensive care.

The researchers compared study participants with people in the community who had not had COVID, but who matched the participants regarding age, sex, and pre-existing health conditions.

Encouraging and Disturbing Study Results

Six months following hospitalization, many of the patients’ symptoms had improved. Of the 479 participants who had been employed when they fell ill had returned to their jobs, but 49% of all patients had at least one lingering symptom.

At the 12-month follow-up, the researchers found that:

• Shortness of breath and mental health issues such as anxiety and depression were slightly more prevalent than at the six-month mark.
• COVID survivors were much more likely to be experiencing:
  • Pain and/or Discomfort
  • Anxiety and/or Depression
  • Mobility Issues
• COVID survivors had worse overall health than those who had not been infected.
• Women were more likely than men to have lingering symptoms like mental health and lung function issues.

Fatigue or muscle weakness was reported by 20% of patients, which was a dramatic decrease from the 52% who reported such symptoms at the six-month follow-up.

Lingering Questions

Unlike shortness of breath, which was more common in those who had been more severely ill, some symptoms did not appear to be related to the patients’ initial illness severity. One example involves 244 patients who underwent a lung function test. Between the six-month and 12-month follow-ups, the percentage of patients with reduced flow of oxygen from their lungs to their bloodstream remained the same, regardless of their degree of illness at the outset.

“The need to understand and respond to long COVID is increasingly pressing,” stated a Lancet editorial about the study. “Symptoms such as persistent fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog, and depression could debilitate many millions of people globally,” it cautioned, adding, “Long COVID is a modern medical challenge of the first order.”

*Belluck, P. A new study found half of hospitalized Covid patients had lingering symptoms one year later. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/26/world/covid-delta-variant-vaccine#a-new-study-found-half-of-hospitalized-covid-patients-had-lingering-symptoms-one-year-later 

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions.