Follow-up of practiced treatment regimens and health conditions of patients following recovery from COVID-19 residing in Dhaka City: a survey-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To observe the prognosis of cases of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), focusing on symptoms, treatment and post-recovery health conditions. METHODOLOGY: The respondents were residents of Dhaka City, Bangladesh who had a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research from October to December 2020. They were followed up 1–3 months after diagnosis. Data were collected via Google forms sent directly by e-mail, and were analysed using SPSS. Participation was voluntary, and confidentiality of the respondents was strictly maintained. RESULTS: Five hundred and twenty-two of 3148 patients who had recovered from COVID-19 responded to the survey. The mean (±standard deviation) age and body mass index of the respondents were 39.8±13 years and 26.4±6.5 kg/m(2), respectively. More males than females participated in this study (70.3% vs 29.5%). Approximately 39.3% of respondents had comorbidities. The majority (88.5%) of respondents had experienced symptoms, including fever, fatigue, anosmia and aguesia, body pain, headache and dry cough, for 1–5 days. Respondents were treated with antibiotics (72.4%), antiparasitics (47.9%) and antivirals (15.9%). Overall, respondents were RT-PCR positive for a mean of 19.7±7.6 days. Symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, uneasiness, body pain and dry cough persisted in 76.3% of respondents when they were RT-PCR negative. CONCLUSION: For most respondents, COVID-19 symptoms extended beyond the period of RT-PCR positivity. Further studies are needed to determine the changing status of COVID-19.