Cross-sectional analysis of clinical aspects in patients with long-COVID and post-COVID syndrome.

Regarding pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, at-risk individuals, and diagnostic methods for stratifying patients for therapeutic approaches, our understanding of post-COVID syndrome is limited. Here, we set out to assess sociodemographic and clinical aspects in patients with the long-COVID and post-COVID syndrome. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of patients presenting at our specialized university hospital outpatient clinic. We assessed patients' clinical presentation, fatigue, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and impairment of smell. A total of 101 patients were included (73.3% female), of whom 78.2% had a mild course of COVID-19. At presentation, 93.1% suffered from fatigue, 82.2% from impaired concentration, and 79.2% from impaired memory, 53.5% had impaired sleep. The most common secondary diagnosis found in our cohort was thyroid disease. Fatigue analysis showed that 81.3% of female and 58.8% of male patients had severe combined fatigue. Female gender was an independent risk factor for severe fatigue (severe cognitive fatigue OR = 8.045, Most long-COVID patients suffered from severe fatigue, with the female sex as an independent risk factor. Fatigue was not associated with symptoms of depression or anxiety. Patients with long-COVID symptoms should receive an interdisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic approach depending on the clinical presentation.

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Copyright © 2022 Schulze, Charles James, Trampe, Richter, Pakeerathan, Siems, Ayzenberg, Gold and Faissner.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.