Post COVID-19 syndrome in a prospective cohort study of Egyptian patients

BACKGROUND: Post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) syndrome is defined as the persistence of symptoms for more than 3 to 12 weeks after infection with the COVID-19 virus that cannot be attributed to another etiology. This study was conducted in our university hospital aiming to analyze the medium-term persistent symptoms in post-COVID-19 patients through a comprehensive and structured clinical assessment and evaluating the incidence, association, and risk factors of the post COVID-19 symptoms and their effect on the functional status of the survivors. RESULTS: Of 170 recruited individuals, about 66 (38.82%) reported post-COVID-19 symptoms. Post-viral fatigue was the most common symptom (23.5%), followed by arthralgia and myalgia in 32 patients (18.8%). Lower functional status was reported among some of the survivors which can be attributed to the severity of the disease and the presence of post-COVID symptoms among these patients. The post-COVID-19 syndrome showed an association with patient age, severity of the disease, and the presence of preexisting comorbidities. CONCLUSION: A significant functional impact was found in some COVID-19 survivors after COVID-19 infection. Age, severity of the disease, and presence of preexisting comorbidities are critical risk factors for the development of post-COVID-19 syndrome.