Physical and psychological effects of post-COVID-19 syndrome on patients in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia: a descriptive prospective study

Abstract

Although there have been many cases of reports on post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) worldwide, studies related to the long-term physical and psychological effects of COVID-19 have not been widely conducted in Indonesia. This study aimed to identify PCS's long-term physical and psychological symptoms in patients who had confirmed COVID-19. This descriptive prospective study was conducted from April to June 2022 with 79 respondents who had been confirmed positive for COVID-19 and whose medical records were reported at one of the public health centers in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, from January to December 2020 by purposive sampling. The COVID‐19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Screening Scale (C19‐YRS) was used to identify PCS symptoms. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the frequency distribution data and the percentage of PCS cases. The results showed that 20.3% of respondents had at least one PCS symptom. Nearly a third (32.9%) of the respondents had deteriorated general health conditions after being infected with COVID-19. The most common physical symptoms of PCS were shortness of breath when climbing stairs (6.3%), resting, dressing, changes in throat sensitivity, voice (each 5.1%), swallowing problems, and pain (each 2.5%). At the same time, the most psychological effects of PCS were illness-related nightmares (12.6%), PTSD (11.4%), anxiety (7.6%), still avoiding thoughts of their illness (2.5%), and depression (1.3%). With varying severity, the physical and psychological symptoms of PCS were still felt by respondents. Although the symptoms of PCS are relatively mild, the follow-up treatment of post-recovery patients after being diagnosed with COVID-19 is crucial.