COVID-19 survivors continue to experience concern with mental and physical health months after being hospitalized. UK researchers conducted a study that shows 1 in 5 people develop a disability and a number of survivors are not working or changing jobs due to their health.
The most common to have persistent symptoms are middle-age women as well as others that have had two conditions such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease and a compromised auto immune are seen to be at greater risk with lingering symptoms.
The results from the University of Leicester showed after 5 months being discharged from COVID-19, patients showed evidence of mental, physical problems along with organ damage to the lungs and brain (most common).
The UK-wide study was conducted among 1,077 patients that where hospitalized and discharged from hospitals between March to November of 2020. When the patients were followed up months later, only a recorded 29% stated that they felt “fully recovered”. At the same time 90% of the participants has at least one persistent system.
Another persistent symptom that affected more than 25% of the participants was anxiety and depression, followed by 12% having symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The study will continue as the participants will be assessed again at 12 months to gather more information and to see how long is the impact of these symptoms.