Frequency of different symptoms in patients with COVID-19

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is a wide spreading disease starts from Wuhan a city of China in east. Earlier symptoms include fever, cough and fatigue later on patients may present with loss of smell and taste, sore throat, nasal congestion and muscle or joint pain. Its long term effects may include respiratory distress and neurological symptoms. Aim: To determine the frequency of different symptoms in patients with COVID-19 presenting at outpatients department of Nishtar Hospital Multan. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at department of medicine, Nishtar Medical University, Multan, from September 2020 to September 2021. This study was carried out on 200 patients presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 and diagnosis was confirmed after admission. Main variables of study were symptoms of COVID-19 like cough, fever, running nose, breathlessness, headache and palpitations. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis. Results: Majority of the patients were (60.0%) between age group 46-60 years. The most common symptoms were fever and cough, (79.0%) and (65.0%), respectively. The symptoms recorded between both male and female were almost equal, (standardized residuals<1.96 and p>0.05). But, fever and running nose were most common among the females, (p=0.028) and (p=0.050), respectively. Conclusion: COVID-19 presents with variety of symptoms and fever and cough were most common among these symptoms. COVID-19 positive patients can be present asymptomatically. All persons who come into contact with COVID19 patients should be go through the PCR lab test. Keywords: Novel COVID 19, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Contagious, Pandemic