Fatigue in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: Clinical Phenomenology, Comorbidities and Association With Initial Course of COVID-19. (21st May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Diem, Lara; Fregolente-Gomes, Livia; Warncke, Jan D.; Hammer, Helly; Friedli, Christoph; Kamber, Nicole; Jung, Simon; Bigi, Sandra; Funke-Chambour, Manuela; Chan, Andrew; Bassetti, Claudio L.; Salmen, Anke; Hoepner, Robert
• Is Part Of: Journal of central nervous system disease. Volume 14(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-05-21
• Subjects: SARS-CoV2 -- corona virus -- post infectious -- long-term symptoms -- neuropsychiatric symptoms -- viral infection; Central nervous system -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Brain -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Spinal cord -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Central Nervous System Diseases; Brain Diseases; Brain -- Diseases; Central nervous system -- Diseases; Spinal cord -- Diseases; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; Periodicals; 573.863905
• DOI: 10.1177/11795735221102727
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1179-5735

Abstract

Introduction: Post-COVID-19 syndrome affects approximately 10-25% of people suffering from COVID-19 infection, irrespective of initial COVID-19 severity. Fatigue is one of the major symptoms, occurring in 30-90% of people with post-COVID-19 syndrome. This study aims at describing factors associated with fatigue in people with Post-COVID-19 seen in our newly established Post-Covid clinic. Methods: This retrospective single center study included 42 consecutive patients suffering from Post-COVID-19 syndrome treated at the Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bern, between 11/2020 and05/2021. Clinical phenomenology of Post-COVID-19 syndrome with a special focus on fatigue and risk factor identification was performed using Mann-Whitney U Test, Pearson Correlation, and Chi-Quadrat-Test. Results: Fatigue (90.5%) was the most prevalent Post-COVID-19 symptom followed by depressive mood (52.4%) and sleep disturbance (47.6%). Fatigue was in mean severe (Fatigue severity scale (FSS) mean 5.5 points (95% Confidence interval (95CI) 5.1 - 5.9, range .9 - 6.9, n = 40), and it was unrelated to age, COVID-19 severity or sex. The only related factors with fatigue severity were daytime sleepiness and depressed mood. Conclusion: Fatigue is the main symptom of the Post-COVID-19 syndrome in our cohort. Further studies describing this syndrome are needed to prepare the healthcare systems for the challenge of treating patients with Post-COVID-19 syndrome.