Emotional, mental health and physical symptom experience of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 up to 3 months post-hospitalization: A longitudinal study.

Abstract

To explore emotional, mental health and physical symptoms up to 3 months after discharge for adults hospitalized with COVID-19. 10%-30% of adults with COVID-19 experience physical and psychological symptoms 3 months or more following infection. Knowing symptoms can help direct early intervention. A longitudinal descriptive design to study COVID-related symptoms 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 3 months after hospitalization. Sixty-six patients were recruited from a hospital system in Midwestern US (October 2020-May 2021). Participants self-reported demographics, hospital and post discharge symptoms, PROMIS measures (depression, anxiety, fatigue, cognitive function, satisfaction social roles, sleep disturbance) and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Hospital length of stay, comorbidities, lowest oxygen saturation, respiratory support and resources used were collected. Descriptive and nonparametric statistics described the sample and identified correlations between variables. The STROBE checklist was used. Data from 1 (T1) and 3 months (T2) post discharge were analysed (N = 52). A majority were female, white and married; 96% experienced ≥1 COVID-related symptoms at T1; 85% at T2. Fatigue was most prevalent, followed by shortness of breath, muscle weakness and foggy thinking. More physical symptoms during hospitalization correlated positively with number of symptoms at T1 and T2; a majority stated these impacted their normal routine 'somewhat' or 'a lot'. T1 depression highly correlated with all T2 PROMIS and IES-R scores and number of physical symptoms. More symptoms at T1 were associated with worse fatigue, lower cognitive function and lower satisfaction with social roles at T2. This study adds to the growing knowledge of mental, physical and emotional symptoms and relationships between these early after hospitalization with COVID-19. Findings can help identify holistic nursing interventions to improve health and mitigate symptoms for people with long COVID. Patients contributed via study participation.