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Clinical Trial
. 2020 Dec 11;15(12):e0243882.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243882. eCollection 2020.

Persistence of symptoms and quality of life at 35 days after hospitalization for COVID-19 infection

Laurie G Jacobs  1   2 , Elli Gourna Paleoudis  3 , Dineen Lesky-Di Bari  4 , Themba Nyirenda  3 , Tamara Friedman  3 , Anjali Gupta  1   2 , Lily Rasouli  2 , Marygrace Zetkulic  1   2 , Bindu Balani  1   5 , Chinwe Ogedegbe  6   7 , Harinder Bawa  1   2   8   9 , Lauren Berrol  10 , Nabiha Qureshi  2 , Judy L Aschner  8   9
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Persistence of symptoms and quality of life at 35 days after hospitalization for COVID-19 infection

Laurie G Jacobs et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Characterizing the prevalence and persistence of symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection following hospitalization and their impact is essential to planning post-acute community-based clinical services. This study seeks to identify persistent COVID-19 symptoms in patients 35 days post-hospitalization and their impact on quality of life, health, physical, mental, and psychosocial function.

Methods and findings: This prospective cohort study used the PROMIS® Instruments to identify symptoms and quality of life parameters in consecutively enrolled patients between March 22 and April 16, 2020, in New Jersey. The 183 patients (median age 57 years; 61.5% male, 54.1% white) reported persistent symptoms at 35 days, including fatigue (55.0%), dyspnea (45.3%), muscular pain (51%), associated with a lower odds rating general health (41.5%, OR 0.093 [95% CI: 0.026, 0.329], p = 0.0002), quality of life (39.8%; OR 0.116 [95% CI: 0.038, 0.364], p = 0.0002), physical health (38.7%, OR 0.055 [95% CI: 0.016, 0.193], p <0.0001), mental health (43.7%, OR 0.093 [95% CI: 0.021, 0.418], p = 0.0019) and social active role (38.7%, OR 0.095 [95% CI: 0.031, 0.291], p<0.0001), as very good/excellent, particularly adults aged 65 to 75 years (OR 8·666 [95% CI: 2·216, 33·884], p = 0·0019).

Conclusions: COVID-19 symptoms commonly persist to 35 days, impacting quality of life, health, physical and mental function. Early post-acute evaluation of symptoms and their impact on function is necessary to plan community-based services.

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Conflict of interest statement

Laurie G. Jacobs -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Elli Gourna Paleoudis -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Dineen Lesky-DiBari - no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Anjali Gupta -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Lily Rasoulli - no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Themba Nyrirenda - no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Tamara Friedman - no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Marygrace Zetkulic -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Bindu Balani - Financial relationships: Gilead- PI, Remdisivir clinical trial, 2020, personal fees; Merck advisory committee; Abbvie speaker, personal fees Chinwe Ogedegbe -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Harinder Bawa -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Nabiha Qureshi -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Lauren Berrol -no conflicts of interest, no financial relationships Judy Aschner -Gilead Science, stock owner" We confirm that the competing interests and financial relationships statement above is correct and that this does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

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