Association of COVID-19 symptoms and functional status of the COVID-19 survivors in a tertiary health care center in a developing country

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people globally, causing widespread illness and functional limitations. Methods This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between COVID-19 symptoms and the functional status of COVID-19 survivors at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in Bangladesh. A total of 244 COVID-19 survivors were enrolled in the study, and their symptoms and functional status were assessed using standardized questionnaires. The post-COVID-19 functional status scale (PCFS) was used to assess the entire range of functional outcomes. Results Among the participants 57.4% were male and 42.6% were female. The mean (SD) age of the patients was 44.6 ±14.7 years where 37.7% were from the 20-35 years age group. The mean duration of suffering from COVID-19 was 15.9 ±6.1 days where 61.5 % of the patients had a duration of suffering of 11-20 days. Out of the 244 patients, 40 patients had no functional limitation (grade 0 functional status in the PCFS scale) while 100 had negligible functional limitation and 14 had severe functional limitation. We found patients who were suffering from multi-symptoms were statistically significant with PCFS scale grade 4, whereas grade 1 was found to be statistically significant with only respiratory distress. There was a significant association between the duration of COVID-19 symptoms and post-COVID-19 functional status for patients who experienced symptoms for 14 days or more (p<0.05). Conclusions Considering the negative impact of COVID-19 symptoms on functional status, comprehensive care and support are required for COVID-19 survivors.