COVEVOL: Natural Evolution at 6 Months of COVID-19

Abstract

Many studies have investigated post-COVID symptoms, but the predictors of symptom persistence remain unknown. The objective was to describe the natural course of the disease at 6 months and to identify possible factors favoring the resurgence or persistence of these symptoms. COVEVOL is a retrospective observational descriptive study of 74 patients. All patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR from March 2020 were included. We compared a group with symptom persistence (PS group) with another group without symptom persistence (no-PS group). Fifty-three out of seventy-four patients (71.62%) described at least one persistent symptom at 6 months of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the PS group, 56.6% were women and the average age was 54.7 years old [21-89.2] ± 16.9. The main symptoms were asthenia (56.6%, n = 30), dyspnea (34%, n = 18), anxiety (32.1% n = 17), anosmia (24.5%, n = 13) and agueusia (15.1% n = 8). Ten patients (13.51%) presented a resurgence in symptoms. Patients in the PS group were older (p = 0.0048), had a higher BMI (p = 0.0071), and were more frequently hospitalized (p = 0.0359) compared to the no-PS group. Odynophagia and nasal obstruction were less present in the inaugural symptoms of COVID-19 in the PS group (p = 0.0202 and p = 0.0332). Persistent post-COVID syndromes are common and identification of contributing factors is necessary for understanding this phenomenon and appropriate management.

Keywords: anosmia; anxiety; asthenia; dyspnea; persistent symptoms; post-COVID-19; risk factors; “long COVID”.

Figure 1

Flow Chart.

Figure 2

Proportion of persistent symptoms in the persistent symptom group (n = 53) after SARS-CoV-2 infection. ENT (ear, nose and throat) symptoms: nasal obstruction, nasal pain, rhinorrhea, nasal dryness, sneezing, odynophagia, dysphonia. Cardiologic symptoms: chest pain, palpitations, lipothymia. Neurologic symptoms: headache, dizziness, drowsiness. Neuropathic pain: myalgias, paresthesias of the limbs. Psychiatric symptoms: depressive syndrome, memory impairment, attention deficit. Other symptoms: epicondylitis, erectile dysfunction.