Clinical Manifestations of Post-COVID in Adults in the Republic of Panama
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Abstract
Introduction: individuals who suffer from COVID-19 can either be asymptomatic or have symptoms that can range from mild, moderate to severe. However, a significant amount of the population can present a group of long-term clinical manifestations that have been englobed by the term post-COVID syndrome.
Methodology: we executed an observational and transverse study on patients with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, between March 2020- March 2021 in the Republic of Panama. Simple random sampling was utilized on post-COVID clinic patients and the general population with the help of a self-administered digital survey.
Results: the answers of 248 participants were analyzed; 64.5% were female with an average age of 36.7 years. Arterial hypertension (14.5%) and obesity/overweight (18.1%) were the most frequent comorbidities among the studied population. Around 87% were mild and 85.9% suffered from at least one long- term symptom. Risk factors associated with symptom persistence includes the presence of 7 or more symptoms during the acute phase of disease (OR 9.46), as well as the female gender (OR 5.07). Other factors include ventilatory support (OR 2.58) and hypertension (OR 2.46). Acute phase symptoms that persisted long-term include headaches, dyspnea, general malaise and fatigue.
Conclusions: post-COVID syndrome is a public health issue that requires solutions obtained through research and their application within the healthcare system. To our knowledge, this is the first prevalence study concerning post-COVID symptoms executed in the Republic of Panama. It provides current information to the limited knowledge on symptoms that appear after an acute infection of COVID-19.
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