Abstract
During the Coronavirus Infection Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of patients released from quarantine is exceeding the number of newly diagnosed cases. This study is a retrospective cohort study in which consultation data were collected from a COVID-19 follow-up health consultation program. The studied population was selected from patients who recovered after quarantine and treatment for COVID-19 in Daegu City and in Gyeongsangbukdo province, Korea, from March to June 2020. The healthcare providers comprised 20 family-medicine specialists who consulted and educated the patients through phone calls in accordance with structured guidelines. Physical and mental status before and after recovery were compared among patients who received a single consultation and those who received two or more consultations. A total of 1604 subjects were selected for the final analysis. Of these, 1145 (71.4%) had one consultation and 459 (28.6%) had two or more. The group that had two or more consultations reported significantly more physical symptoms, more psychological symptoms (including depression), and more psychological stress. Multivariate forward selection logistic regression analysis showed that re-confirmed cases of COVID-19, physical symptoms after quarantine, feelings of depression, and psychological stress had a significant effect on the number of consultations received. In conclusion, COVID-19 has various physical and mental sequelae after discharge from quarantine. Therefore, a well-structured follow-up program is needed after recovery.
Highlights
Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19, is a respiratory syndrome caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 virus that began with an outbreak in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019; since it has spread rapidly worldwide [1,2]
Of the subjects that required two or more consultations, the number of re-confirmed cases was significantly higher among those who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU), those who were symptomatic before hospitalization, or those who complained of physical symptoms after release from quarantine
A higher percentage of those who required multiple consultations reported mild anxiety, mild depression, and mild mental stress than those who required only a single consultation. These results strongly suggested that a follow-up health consultation program delivered by medical professionals and psychologists would play an important role in patient care after release from COVID-19 quarantine
Summary
Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 (hereafter referred to as COVID-19), is a respiratory syndrome caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that began with an outbreak in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019; since it has spread rapidly worldwide [1,2]. The most common symptoms are fever, fatigue, and a dry cough, a considerable number of patients report anosmia (loss of the sense of smell) [5]. At the time of writing, Korea has reported >70,000 confirmed cases and >100 million infections; more than 2 million deaths have been reported worldwide and the numbers continue to rise. The number of confirmed cases and the number of people released from quarantine after full recovery is increasing rapidly [1]. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, release from quarantine is allowed under the following circumstances: absence of fever without the need for antipyretic drugs; improved clinical symptoms for a minimum period of 72 h at 10 days post-onset; and two negative COVID-19
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