Duration and Risk Factors of Post-COVID Symptoms Following Recovery Among the Medical Doctors in Bangladesh

Sarmin Sultana; Mohammad Tanvir Islam; Marium Salwa; Shah M Zakir Hossain; Md Nazmul Hasan; Abdullah A Masum; Abed H Khan; Md Maruf Haque Khan; M Atiqul Haque

doi:10.7759/cureus.15351

Duration and Risk Factors of Post-COVID Symptoms Following Recovery Among the Medical Doctors in Bangladesh

Cureus. 2021 May 31;13(5):e15351. doi: 10.7759/cureus.15351. eCollection 2021 May.

Authors

Sarmin Sultana¹, Mohammad Tanvir Islam², Marium Salwa¹, Shah M Zakir Hossain³, Md Nazmul Hasan², Abdullah A Masum², Abed H Khan², Md Maruf Haque Khan¹, M Atiqul Haque¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health and Informatics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, BGD.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, BGD.
³ Department of Nephrology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, BGD.

Abstract

A large number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recovered patients are suffering from related symptoms. We conducted telephone interviews with 186 COVID-19 recovered medical doctors to determine the post-COVID symptoms, duration, and associated risk factors. About 70% of participants had at least one acute post-COVID symptom, including fatigue (43.0%), sleep disturbance (13.4%), lack of concentration (11.8%), breathing difficulty (10.2%), headache (6.5%), and muscle pain (6.5%). However, about 24% of participants reported having long post-COVID symptoms. Logistic regression analysis showed that female sex (odds ratio {OR}, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.28-6.06; p-value: 0.010) and comorbid conditions (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.08-4.79; p: value, 0.030) are risk factors for the long post-COVID symptoms.

Keywords: covid-19; duration; medical doctors; post-covid symptoms; risk factors.

Grants and funding

The study received a grant from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University with the grant number bsmmu/2020/7231(02).