Abstract
Introduction:
After recovering from an acute infection with COVID-19, many patients experience various physical and psychological symptoms in different body systems for a long time. The current study aimed to identify these symptoms as the first step in building a system for classifying long-term symptoms after recovery from COVID-19.
Materials and Methods:
This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 1401 and August 1402 at Kosar Hospital in Semnan. Data related to physical symptoms after recovery were collected through phone calls to those who had recovered from COVID-19 using a questionnaire that included 20 common symptoms. Data related to mental health after recovery were collected using a general health questionnaire.
Results:
A total of 375 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at Kosar Hospital participated in the study, of which 53% were women and 47% were men. The most common symptoms include fatigue (62.1%), muscle pain (42.1%), dizziness (34.3%), and shortness of breath (33.9%). The average mental health score of the participants in this study was 14.56 ± 6.20.
Conclusion:
The existence of long-term symptoms after recovery from COVID-19 indicates the follow-up of the patient. The authors propose a classification system as a starting point for identifying and tracking long-term symptoms after recovery and recommend larger-scale studies to expand the definition of recovery from COVID-19.
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Copyright
© 2024, Author(s). This open-access article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows for unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.