Around half of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 during the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, still had health problems 12 months on and a number showed signs of impaired lung functioning and lung abnormalities, according to research published Thursday in the Lancet, highlighting the lingering and debilitating symptoms that Covid-19 can cause in some patients for weeks and months after infection.
Key Facts
The peer-reviewed study, which assessed the health of some 1,276 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in Wuhan between January and May 2020 at six and 12 months after infection, found survivors a year later to be in worse health than those who had not had Covid-19.
Though most patients recovered from symptoms after one year, the researchers found just under half (49%) experienced at least one ongoing symptom, with fatigue or muscle weakness the most commonly reported symptom in 20% of patients.
Nearly one in three patients still experienced shortness of breath a year later, the researchers found, and of the smaller number of patients who underwent chest CT scans and lung function tests, a significant number displayed lung abnormalities and impaired function, the latter of which did not improve from measurements taken at six months.
These problems were more common among patients who needed ventilation while in hospital—54% displayed impaired lung function and 87% showed abnormalities on their scans—but were not infrequent in patients who did not need help breathing (23% had impaired lung function and 39% showed lung abnormalities).
The proportion of recovering patients reporting mental health issues was slightly higher at 12 months than at six, the study showed, with 26% experiencing anxiety and depression, a three-point jump from the six-month point and much greater than reports from those who had not had Covid-19 (5%).
The hospitalized survivors were also more likely to experience pain or discomfort at 12 months (29% reported this) than those who did not contract Covid-19 (5%), as well as being more likely to experience mobility problems (9%) than that group (4%).
forbes.com/sites/roberthart...
The Lancet. Peer Reviewed Study Paper: