6-month consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: a cohort study
This study of Covid-19 patients discharged from a hospital in Wuhan, China (n=1,733) found fatigue or muscle weakness (63%), sleep difficulties (26%), and anxiety or depression (23%) were the most common reported symptoms 6 months after acute infection.
Source:
The Lancet
SPS commentary:
Patients who were more severely ill during their hospital stay had more severe impaired pulmonary diffusion capacities and abnormal chest imaging manifestations, and these are the main target population for intervention of long-term recovery. The seropositivity of neutralising antibodies and neutralising antibody titres at follow-up were significantly lower compared with those observed during the acute phase; the authors say these findings raise concern for Covid-19 re-infection.
A related Comment notes only 4% of the study population were admitted to intensive care, therefore information about the long-term consequences in this cohort are inconclusive.