Sukhmani Boparai, MD
Resident Physician
LSU Health Shreveport
Shreveport
Disclosure information not submitted.
Hajra Channa, MD
Doctor
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Lovekirat Dhaliwal, MD
Resident
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Louisiana, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Robert Walter, MD, MPH,
Professor and Division Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Nasim Motayar, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
n/a, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Title: Risk Factors Associated with Developing Persistent Symptoms after COVID-19: A Retrospective Study
Introduction: COVID-19 has been associated with significant morbidity and mortality and results in severe hypoxemic respiratory failure, often requiring admission to the Intensive Care Unit. Studying the acute phase of this disease has been the primary focus of the medical community. However, recently persistent symptoms lasting more than 4-12 weeks after diagnosis have been described, referred to as post-acute COVID or long-COVID. We attempted to elucidate risk factors associated with developing this condition to help clinicians identify vulnerable patients during the acute phase of their illness.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a total of 79 medical records of patients who were diagnosed with SARS-COV2 from 02/01/2020-07/31/2020 and followed at our COVID clinic.
Results: Our cohort was predominantly African American (89.7%), with a mean (SD) age of 52.21 (15.23) years, 26.92 % males, and a mean (SD) BMI of 39.76 kg/m2 (12.41). 23% of the patients had a history of hospitalization for COVID, out of which 7.5% had persistent hypoxia on discharge. Patients were seen at the clinic for their first appointment at an average of 62.44 days (14-141, SD 27.11) days after their diagnosis. 49.36 % of patients had persistent symptoms or "Long-COVID." The most common symptoms were fatigue (79.4%), shortness of breath (56.41%), loss of appetite or weight (23 %), nausea or diarrhea (20.51%), fever (10.2%), arthralgias and myalgias (10.2%). A history of hospitalization (4.91, p=0.01) was associated with developing long-COVID, but age, sex, race, BMI, presenting symptoms, imaging findings, or lab values were not. We also saw a high incidence of anxiety (30.37%) and depression (13.9%) post COVID. A higher BMI (1.07, p=0.02) was predictive of developing anxiety, but age, sex, gender, education, employment, or marital status were not.
Conclusion: Our study identified a history of hospitalization as a risk factor for developing long-COVID. A higher BMI was also associated with developing anxiety. This information will be helpful for clinicians taking care of acutely ill COVID-19 patients and guide appropriate referrals at discharge. Further studies are required to identify the most vulnerable patients and coordinate their follow-up care.