ASSESSMENT OF POST-COVID SYNDROME MANIFESTATIONS AMONG COVID-19 PATIENTS IN ERNAKULAM DISTRICT

The study was conducted between 2021 and 2022 among the post-COVID patients in Ernakulam district of Kerala by assessing Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), comorbidities, symptoms during COVID and post-COVID, fatigue, stress, and insomnia. The research was a six-month community-based prospective cohort study comprising 250 patients.Out of the 250 patients, 41.6% were male and 58.4% were female. Among the patients, 26% had a high Dietary Diversity Score. The most common comorbidities observed were hypertension (24%), followed by obesity (20.8%), diabetes mellitus (19.2%), and cardiovascular disease (16.8%), respectively. During the period of infection, the most common symptom among patients was tiredness (89.2%), followed by fever (83.2%), headache (78.8%), dry cough (67.6%), and loss of taste or smell (56.4%). Breathlessness (30%), chest pain (26%), and diarrhea (9.2%) were the other significant symptoms. The most prevalent post-COVID symptoms in various systems among patients were loss of appetite (89%), weakness (62.4%), sore throat (51.6%), dry cough (40.4%), joint pain (26.8%), and pain/burning in the chest (14.8%). During COVID, 42.4% of the patients were severely fatigued, 61.2% of the patients had a moderate level of perceived stress, and 44.4% of the patients had subthreshold insomnia. During post-COVID, 80.4% were severely fatigued; moderate stress was found in 40%, of the subjects; and 22.8 % of the study subjects had subthreshold insomnia. The Pearson’s coefficient of correlation, ‘r’, between stress and insomnia among study subjects was 0.37. The obtained t-value for stress (7.14 > 2.58), fatigue (8.31> 2.58), and insomnia (10.97 > 2.58) were significant. Post-COVID is associated with comorbidities and disease severity. The prevalence of new-onset fatigue, perceived stress, and insomnia was significant among COVID-19 survivors.