The prevalence of long COVID symptoms in Indonesia: a cross-sectional study in Aceh

Abstract

Introduction: It is estimated that the long-term consequences of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be significant problems since they cause prolonged clinical manifestations after COVID-19. The aim of this study was to investigate patients with long-term effects of COVID-19 in Aceh Province, Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on COVID-19 patients in Aceh, Indonesia using an online survey software tool. The COVID-19 survivors were contacted after a diagnosis of COVID-19 at least 14 days after a negative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) result. Results: A total of 303 respondents were contacted after a diagnosis of COVID-19 at least 14 days after a negative RT-PCR result. The results showed that 31% experienced long COVID until the 14th to 15th day of the month, while 69% did not offer long COVID symptoms. The most common symptoms experienced by the patients were fatigue (9.9%), headache (8.7%), and joint and muscle pain (8.1%). Other symptoms reported by COVID-19 survivors were polypnea and shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, coughing, hair loss, palpitations, runny nose, stuffy nose, mental health problems such as anxiety, impaired concentration and depression. The long COVID symptoms were more experienced by female respondents (64.9%) than male respondents (35.1%). Conclusion: Our data suggested that the symptoms of long COVID or long-term consequences of COVID-19 were relatively high. Therefore, measures should be taken to prevent long-term effects among COVID-19 survivors.