Post-COVID-19 syndrome: nature of symptoms and associated factors

Nagla Mahmoud; Nashwa Radwan; Abdullah Alkattan; Mustafa Hassanien; Elfadil Elkajam; Sara Alqahtani; Alhan Haji; Amal Alfaifi; Amjad Alfaleh; Khaled Alabdulkareem

doi:10.1007/s10389-022-01802-3

Post-COVID-19 syndrome: nature of symptoms and associated factors

Z Gesundh Wiss. 2023 Jan 3:1-6. doi: 10.1007/s10389-022-01802-3. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nagla Mahmoud¹, Nashwa Radwan^{1

2}, Abdullah Alkattan^{3

4}, Mustafa Hassanien¹, Elfadil Elkajam¹, Sara Alqahtani¹, Alhan Haji¹, Amal Alfaifi¹, Amjad Alfaleh³, Khaled Alabdulkareem^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Training, Development, and Research, Assisting Deputyship for Primary Health Care, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.
³ Research and Planning Unit, General Directorate of School Health, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Al-Imam Mohammad Bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Aim: Post-COVID-19 syndrome is defined as continuous symptoms related to SARS-CoV-2 infection, which can persist for several weeks or months. Previous studies identified risk factors associated with post-COVID-19 syndrome, including female sex, hypertension, and allergic respiratory diseases. This study aims to investigate the frequency of this syndrome among Arabic patients.

Subject and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to August 2022. The study included 520 Arabic patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, who were asked about possible symptoms persisting for ≥28 days.

Results: Twenty-five percent (25%) of the included patients developed post-COVID-19 syndrome. The most common recorded symptoms were cough (32%), anosmia (32%), fatigue (28%), headache (19%), muscle pain (19%), and shortness of breath (17%). It was found that female sex, hospitalization due to initial COVID-19 infection, and the presence of chronic diseases were significant risk factors for developing post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Conclusion: The study recorded post-COVID-19 syndrome among 25% of Arabic participants. Initial COVID-19 hospitalization, initial symptomatic COVID-19, and female sex were significant risk factors for developing post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-022-01802-3.

Keywords: Chronic symptoms; Health issues; Post-COVID-19 syndrome; Risk factors; SARS-CoV-2.

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