Rate of post Covid-19 symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Nesma Nabil Ahmed Elgohary; Mohamed Nazmy Farres; Diaa Marzouk Abdelhamid; Salwa Mostafa Mohamed; Mohamed Farouk Allam

doi:10.54034/mic.e1981

Authors

Nesma Nabil Ahmed Elgohary Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5080-4151
Mohamed Nazmy Farres Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Diaa Marzouk Abdelhamid Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Salwa Mostafa Mohamed Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Mohamed Farouk Allam Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5954-8909

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54034/mic.e1981

Keywords:

SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, post Covid-19, prevalence, dyspnea, fatigue, mental health

Abstract

Background. Covid-19 pandemic has led to global pandemic and substantial health, economic and social impact. The causative agent is coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which belongs to the coronavirus family. The clinical picture of the infection ranges from a flu-like symptoms to severe pneumonia and mortality. Till January 2022, the cumulative number of cases exceeded 600 million worldwide with mortality rate of more than 6 million. Objective: to identify rate of total and individual presentations of post COVID-19 conditions. Methodology: the literature was reviewed till 1st July 2022, in six databases, we identified 5486 articles; after removal of duplicates and screening for eligible studies according to inclusion criteria, 17 studies were included for further qualitative and quantitative analysis. Results: the results showed high rate of post COVID-19 condition among patients. With prevalence rate of 5 to 10%, fatigue was the most reported symptom with prevalence of 34% among patients (RE: 0.33%, 95%CI: 0.32-0.35). The second highest common symptom was breathlessness with prevalence of 31% (RE: 0.31, 95%CI: 0.20-0.43). Mental health symptoms including anxiety and depression were also distinctly frequent. We also reported on different neurocognitive symptoms including attention and memory problems with rate of 16% (RE: 0.16, 95%CI: 0.11-0.22) and 19% (RE: 0.19, 95%CI: 0.14-0.26) respectively. Conclusion: it is apparent that a significant percentage of individuals with COVID-19 (45%) continue to grapple with a variety of persistent symptoms. Among these, fatigue and dyspnea emerge as highly prevalent issues consistently reported across various groups of patients. However, it is evident that a considerable portion of patients also contend with a diverse array of other lingering symptoms, displaying variability both in number and severity.

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