Six-month Morbidity and Mortality in Patients after Recovery from COVID-19

BACKGROUND: This telephonic survey was aimed to identify the proportion of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients who died from any cause, within 6 months of discharge from a tertiary COVID-19 care hospital. We also analyzed whether any clinical and/or laboratory variables were associated with post-discharge mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All adult patients (age ≥18 years) who had been discharged during the period between July 2020 and August 2020 from a tertiary COVID-19-care hospital after initial hospitalization for COVID-19 were included. A telephonic interview was conducted 6 months after discharge to assess morbidity and mortality in these patients. RESULTS: Out of the 457 patients who responded, 79 patients (17.21%) were symptomatic, and breathlessness was found as most common symptom (6.12%). Fatigue was noted in (5.93%) of study patients, followed by cough (4.59%), sleep disturbances (4.37%), and headache (2.62%). Of the 457 patients who responded, 42 patients (9.19%) required expert medical consultation for their persistent symptoms. Thirty-six patients (7.88%) required re-hospitalization for post-COVID-19 complications within 6 months of discharge. A total of 10 patients (2.18%) succumbed within 6 months of their discharge from the hospital. 6 patients were males and 4 females. Most of these patients (7/10) succumbed in the second month after discharge. Seven patients had moderate-to-severe COVID-19 disease and most of these (7/10) had not been treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). CONCLUSION: Post-COVID-19 mortality figures were not very high in our survey despite the high perceived risk of thromboembolic events after recovery from COVID-19. A significant proportion of patients reported persistent post-COVID-19 symptoms. Breathing difficulty was the most common symptom noted by us, closely followed by fatigue. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Rai DK, Sahay N. Six-month Morbidity and Mortality in Patients after Recovery from COVID-19. Indian J Crit Care Med 2022;26(11):1179–1183.