Long COVID symptoms in the COVID unit of the emergency Department of Abderrahmen Mami Hospital in Tunisia: prevalence, main symptoms, and associated factors.

Introduction: the COVID-19 pandemic has been evolving since 2019, affecting over 536 million individuals and causing more than six million deaths. After the acute phase, the onset or persistence of symptoms grouped under the name of long COVID is reported. The variability of symptomatology makes this a relevant subject of study, since more than one million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Tunisia. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and potential risk factors for long COVID.

Methods: we conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to the COVID unit of the emergency department of Abderrahmane Mami Hospital in Tunisia from April 1st to August 1st, 2021. The National Institute of Health Care definition of long COVID (November 2021) was adopted.

Results: overall, 1,271 patients were admitted during the study period. After excluding deceased and unreachable patients by telephone, 454 were included in the analysis. The mean age was 58.6 ± 13.9 years, with a male predominance (53.7%). The prevalence of long COVID was 84.8%. The most common manifestations were breathing discomfort, asthenia, memory problems, tiredness, and arthralgia. In multivariable analysis, female sex was identified as a risk factor for long COVID (aOR: 1.732, 95% CI 1.002-2.995; p = 0.049).

Conclusion: the high prevalence of long COVID observed in our study highlights the need for post-COVID follow-up among affected patients. Our findings suggest that women had a higher risk of developing long COVID, indicating the benefit of individualized monitoring and care programs for this group.