Symptoms, Health Status, and Mental Well-Being of Patients After COVID-19

Persistence of symptoms post-COVID-19 infection, commonly known as “long COVID”, is a significant issue, affecting nearly one in five individuals. The aim was to assess whether the persistence of COVID-19 symptoms beyond infection was associated with poorer overall health status. Additionally, The investigators assessed the frequency and severity of the symptoms associated with long COVID in the patient population. They surveyed patients verbally at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Emergency Department, a Level 1 Urban Trauma Center. The investigators gathered patients’ demographic data and perspectives on their symptoms before, during, and after COVID-19 infection. They enrolled a total of 100 patients and analyzed the data descriptively, proportions with Pearson Goodness-of-fit Test and differences between paired samples with Wilcoxon signed-ranked test. Nearly one-fourth of the local population experienced long COVID symptoms, including shortness of breath and fatigue (p = 0.009372). Additionally, there was a significant difference between patient health rankings before and after testing positive for COVID-19 (p = 1.6 x 10-10), which may suggest COVID-19 has a negative impact on overall health or perception of health in the patient population.