Post-COVID-19 complications in home and hospital-based care: A study from Dhaka city, Bangladesh.
Salamat Khandker, Aivee Akther, Billal H Syed and 4 others
PMID 36504697WHAT IT FOUND
Home-treated patients more often reported recovery within 14 days, but they also reported more post-COVID symptoms, including fatigue, breathing problems, memory loss and loss of taste or smell.
Key findings
01Recovery within 14 days was reported by 69% of home-treated patients, 54% of those referred to hospital and 39% of those admitted directly to hospital.
02Three or more post-COVID complications were reported by 54% of home-treated patients, 57% of those treated at home then hospital and 32% of patients admitted directly to hospital.
03Participants reported muscle weakness (42%), breathing problems (21%), loss of appetite or smell (29%), depression (27%) and symptoms of memory loss (18%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show that home treatment or hospital treatment caused any symptom or recovery difference. Treatment location was not randomly assigned; patients with more comorbidities were more likely to be referred or admitted to hospital, so differences may reflect illness severity. Participants received many treatments together, including oxygen, antivirals, antibiotics, vitamins, steroids, heparin, plasma therapy and ventilator support, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Of 925 selected cases, 659 completed the survey; the paper does not describe the missing participants, so selection may affect results. The paper does not report how symptoms were clinically confirmed or whether the questionnaire was validated. The sample was limited to Dhaka city and excluded patients from other cities, so results may not apply elsewhere.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the shorter recovery time or higher complication rates as effects of home or hospital treatment. Patients were not randomly assigned, many were sicker or had more comorbidities when hospital treatment was used, and they received multiple medicines and therapies together, so any single component cannot be separated.