Post-covid syndrome in individuals admitted to hospital with covid-19: retrospective cohort study
Study (n=47 780 at NHS hospitals in England) found those discharged from hospital after covid-19 had increased rates of multiorgan dysfunction compared with the expected risk in the general population; over mean of 140 days, ~ third of discharged patients were readmitted.
Source:
British Medical Journal
SPS commentary:
In the study, rates of respiratory disease (p<0.001), diabetes (p<0.001), and cardiovascular disease (p<0.001) were also significantly raised in patients with covid-19; the increase in risk was not confined to the elderly and was not uniform across ethnicities.
According to editorial, as understanding of the scale and scope of long covid improves, it is clear that populations and the NHS will face a substantial burden of additional morbidity and longt-erm conditions as a result of covid-19. Long covid embraces a wide spectrum of organ involvement, with no clear evidence yet to help inform efficient diagnostic pathways or specific treatments or to indicate probable prognosis. It adds that the longer term impact of covid-19 will require the NHS to rethink the way services are organised and delivered for people with long covid, including those presenting after discharge from hospital. It notes early indications suggest that long covid clinics are often unavailable, might lack specialist medical supervision or specialist multidisciplinary teams, or have long waiting lists, and inappropriately lengthy or unidisciplinary pathways that lack the right skills to manage complexity are a risk to patient safety. In addition, rehabilitation therapy teams need appropriate medical support and leadership, and GPs need to keep abreast of this rapidly evolving specialty.