Emotional, mental health and physical symptom experience of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 up to 3 months post-hospitalization: A longitudinal study.
Mary Fran Tracy, Sandy Hagstrom, Michelle Mathiason and 2 others
PMID 37698148WHAT IT FOUND
At follow-up, 85% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 still reported physical symptoms.
Fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle weakness, foggy thinking, and aches were common. Nurses should monitor symptoms and mental health early.
Key findings
01At the second follow-up, 85% of participants still reported at least one physical symptom, with an average of 8.0 symptoms.
02Fatigue was the most common symptom at both follow-ups, reported by 87% at the first and 77% at the second.
03Higher number of symptoms at the first follow-up was associated with more fatigue, lower cognitive function, and lower satisfaction with social roles at the second follow-up.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysed sample was small and demographically homogeneous, with 52 participants and mostly white non-Hispanic women, so results may not apply to other patients. Symptoms were self-reported and not confirmed by clinician assessment, so other causes of symptoms may not have been ruled out. Survey timing varied after discharge. The analysed first follow-up averaged 40.7 days and the second averaged 79.9 days, which may affect recall and comparability. The study could not compare ICU and medical-unit patients because only 6 participants were admitted to an ICU. Many participants had comorbidities, including 37% with baseline mental health diagnoses. This makes it hard to separate symptoms caused by prior conditions from symptoms related to COVID-19. The study found associations rather than causal relationships.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the correlations as proof that early symptoms or depression cause later disability. The study was observational, symptoms were self-reported, and the authors stated that the analysis showed associations rather than causal relationships.