THE POST COVID SPECTRUM: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICAL STUDY OF POST COVID OUTPATIENT FOLLOW UP CASES AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF SOUTHERN MAHARASHTRA

Dr. Anita Basavaraj, Dr. Yagnesh Dhiren Doshi* and Dr. Shirish Shinde

ABSTRACT

Introduction: As of 4th March 2022, India had reported over 42 million COVID-19 cases with some patients experiencing new, recurring or ongoing symptoms related to COVID-19 even several weeks after the acute phase of infection, commonly termed as post- acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Some people with PASC may also experience a confusing syndrome of relapsing-remitting symptoms. A simple and widely available measure of assessment, the number of ongoing symptoms, could help predict a future risk and severity and thereby deserves further attention. The concordance of the severity of physical and mental health impairment in long COVID highlights the need for close integration between physical and mental health care for patients with PASC. Methodolgy: The study was conducted over the patients admitted and further discharged and followed up at a dedicated covid center, a tertiary care hospital of southern Maharashtra. Informed consent was taken and a descriptive analytical study in the form of a clinical profile, with regards to age and sex, occupation, presenting complaints, CT severity score, comorbidities, etc; was conducted. Total 274 patients were included in the study. Results: Follow up at 15 days after discharge and monthly thereafter was done. There was a male preponderance of 68.61%. Maximum patients were in the age group of 40-60 years (42.33%) followed by 36.86% patients in 20-40 years age group. Of 274 patients included in the study, 100 had preexisting comorbidities with maximum i.e. 32 patients having diabetes mellitus. 22 patients had an initial CTSS of more than 30/40. The most common complaint seen on follow up was fatigue (43.43% of cases) followed by breathlessness in 25.54% of patients. Conclusion: Considering the vast spectrum of post covid manifestations right from physical upto mental health, this study highlights the importance of a timely follow up and appropriate intervention and the necessity to recognize as well as attribute the respiratory as well as non-respiratory manifestations in the post covid era to long covid syndrome.

Keywords: COVID, POST COVID, LONG COVID, PASC, BREATHLESSNESS, FATIGUE, CTSS.