‘Long COVID' - Frequency and Pattern of Persistent Symptoms in COVID Patients - A Follow-up Study from a Single Centre

Background: SARS CoV 2 novel coronavirus infection resulted in major pandemic globally, with substantial medical, social, financial and psychological effects. Initially thought of as acute viral illness only was later realized causing midterm and possible long term deleterious effects on affected individuals. These effects have been given multiple terms i.e. Long Covid, Post Covid syndrome etc. To understand prevalence and pattern of long Covid symptoms & their relationship with various patient and primary disease related factors this study was done on 300 Covid - 19 diagnosed patients at a single hospital of Noida. Materials and Methods: 200 admitted and 100 patients under home quarantine diagnosed at the facility three to four months back were interviewed telephonically or in follow up OPD using a pretested questionnaire. Results: 112 females and 188 males participated with mean age of41.89 years. 29.3% (88/300) patients complained of at least one symptom with weakness, dyspnea and fatigue being the most common complaints. Older patients, those with comorbidity and belonging to upper SE strata were more likely to suffer from post Covid symptoms. Conclusion: Effects of Covid - 19 go beyond acute illness. Significant number of patients continue to suffer even months after primary illness. To study long term effects further studies with much longer follow up are needed.