Prevalence and Predictors of Persistent Symptoms After Clearance of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Multicenter Study from Egypt

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and Clinical Characters of Studied Patients

	N = 538
Age	41.17 (±SD 14.84)
Range	5–87
Sex
Male	291 (54.1%)
Female	247 (45.1%)
Smoking	100 (18.6%)
Diabetes	92 (17.1%)
Hypertension	105 (19.5%)
On ARBS	28 (5.2%)
On ACEI	41 (7.6%)
COPD	29 (5.4%)
Chronic kidney disease	7 (1.1%)
Ischemic heart disease	27 (4.5%)
Immunosuppresive	2 (0.4%).

Figure 1 Study flow chart.

Table 2 Severity and Hospital Stay Characterization of Studied Patients

	N = 538
Severity
Mild	330 (61.3%)
Moderate	167 (31%)
Severe	41 (7.6%)
Hospital admission	276 (51.3%)
Hospital stay	13.58 ± 6.40
Range	4–37
ICU admission	35 (6.5%)
ICU stay	9.66 ± 5.85
Range	2–30

Table 3 Symptoms Persisting After Clearance of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

System	Symptoms	Frequency (%)	Persistence	Duration
				Mean±SD)	Median (Range)
General	Fatigue	351 (65.24%)	318 (59.1%)	36.70±28.06	31 (1–154)
	Sense of fever	258 (48%)	250 (46.5%)	20.68± 30.66	3 (1–123)
	Weight loss	38 (7.1%)	30 (5.6%)	19.29±22.19	11 (2–87)
	Skin rash	27 (5%)	23 (4.3%)	33.26±36.41	20 (5–146)
	Pruritus	12 (2.3%)	10 (1.9%)	13.50±3.53	13 (11–16)
	Loss of libido	15 (2.8%)	8 (1.5%)	46.17±59.05	18 (5–154)
	Lower limb edema	5 (0.9%)	5 (0.9%)	58±42.22	70 (1–91)
Cardiothoracic	Cough	280 (52%)	112 (20.8%)	30.83±31.99	20 (1–154)
	Dyspnea	250 (46.5%)	113 (21%)	15.62±20.05	7 (1–91)
	Chest pain	70 (13%)	35 (6.5%)	28.09±32.39)	13 (1–145)
	Sore throat	149 (27.7%)	37 (6.9%)	16.38±17.78	12.50 (1–79)
	Palpitation	51 (9.5%)	48 (8.9%)	30.97±29.33	23 (2–145)
Gastrointestinal	Anorexia	143 (26.5%)	131 (24.3%)	29.51±24.95	26 (1–97)
	Nausea	95 (17.7%)	85 (15.8%)	22.65±26.16	12 (1–145)
	Diarrhea	135 (25%)	131 (24.3%)	20.42±23.67	11 (1–100)
	Abdominal pain	106 (18.7%)	97 (18%)	41.11±24.26	43 (1–104)
	Constipation	12 (2.3%)	10 (1.9%)	13.38±4.59	12 (9–23)
Neuropsychiatric	Loss of smell	146 (27.2%)	123 (22.9%)	28.96±26.96	23 (1–119)
	Loss of taste	139 (25.8%)	117 (21.7%)	18.17±17.68	14 (1–86)
	Headache	123 (22.9%)	115 (21.4%)	26.96±31.06	18 (1–154)
	Low mood	116 (21.5%)	111 (20.6%)	36.68±29.79	30 (2–107)
	Poor sleep	69 (12.8%)	68 (12.6%)	28.17±26.10	17.5 (1–100)
	Numbness	25 (4.6%)	19 (3.5%)	56.27±42.58	77 (1–126)
	Vertigo	14 (2.6%)	12 (2.2%)	83.88±37.75	82 (23–147)
Musculoskeletal	Muscle pain	76 (14.1%)	70 (13%)	32.53±31.52	25 (1–145)
	Bony aches	93 (17.3%)	87 (16.2%)	32.21±31.20	17 (1–123)
	Muscular spasm	17 (3.2%)	14 (2.6%)	42.27±42.32	28 (10–145)
	Tremors	12 (2.3%)	9 (1.7%)	37.33±34.69	30.5 (5–100)
	Joint pain	60 (11.3%)	50 (9.3%)	34.75±41.64	17 (2–159)

Table 4 Factors Associated with Persistent Symptoms Persistence

	Persistence: One or More Symptoms		P value
	No (n = 83)	Yes (n = 455)
Age (years)	41.33 ± 14.13	41.15 ± 14.97	0.92
Sex			0.06
Male	52 (62.7%)	239 (52.5%)
Female	31 (37.3%)	216 (47.5%)
Smoking	21 (25.3%)	79 (17.4%)	0.06
Diabetes mellitus	12 (14.5%)	80 (17.6%)	0.30
Hypertension	15 (18.1%)	90 (19.8%)	0.42
On ACEIs	3 (3.6%)	38 (8.4%)	0.09
On ARBs	3 (3.6%)	25 (5.5%)	0.34
Chronic lung disease	6 (7.2%)	23 (5.1%)	0.28
Chronic kidney disease	1 (1.2%)	6 (1.3%)	0.70
Ischemic heart disease	3 (3.6%)	24 (5.3%)	0.37
Immunosuppression	0	2 (0.4%)	0.71
Hospital admission	27 (32.5%)	249 (54.7%)	< 0.001
ICU admission	4 (4.8%)	31 (6.8%)	0.34
Hospital stay (day)	11.50 ± 3.88	13.74 ± 6.53	0.15
ICU stay (days)	10.33 ± 3.05	9.60 ± 6.16	0.84
Severity
Mild	64 (77.1%)	266 (58.5%)	< 0.001
Moderate	12 (14.5%)	155 (34.1%)
Severe	7 (8.4%)	34 (7.5%)
Hydroxychloroquine	36 (43.4%)	312 (68.6%)	0.000
Steroid	18 (21.7%)	214 (47%)	< 0.001
Anticoagulant	24 (28.9%)	235 (51.6%)	< 0.001
Tocilizumab	1 (1.2%)	6 (1.3%)	0.70
Oxygen therapy	6 (7.2%)	99 (21.8%)	< 0.001
Invasive ventilation	2 (2.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0.11
Non-invasive ventilation	0	16 (3.5%)	0.06
Oseltamivir	0	5 (1.1%)	0.43
Azithromycin	1 (1.2%)	32 (7%)	0.02
Remdesivir	1 (1.2%)	2 (0.40%)	0.39
Symptomatic treatment	5 (6%)	11 (2.4%)	0.08
Multivitamins	1 (1.2%)	40 (8.8%)	< 0.001

Note: Data expressed as frequency (percentage), mean (SD). P value was significant at < 0.05.

Table 5 Multivariate Analysis for Predictors of Post-Covid-19 Persisting Symptoms

	Odd’s Ratio	95% Confidence Interval	P value
Hospital admission	1.68	0.93–3.06	0.08
Severity	0.89	0.41–1.90	0.76
Hydroxychloroquine	8.03	2.45–26.32	< 0.001
Steroids	1.96	0.93–3.06	0.07
Anticoagulants	1.52	0.76–3.03	0.23
Oxygen therapy	2.21	0.82–5.97	0.11
Azithromycin	8.89	1.16–67.81	0.03
Multivitamins	10.12	1.34–76.38	0.02

Figure 2 Frequencies of medication used in treatment of the studied patients.

Figure 3 Post Covid-19 acute and persistent symptoms.