Persistent Organ Damage Common One Year After COVID-19

TUESDAY, Feb. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Organ impairment persists in 59 percent of individuals one year after COVID-19, according to a study published online Feb. 14 in Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Andrea Dennis, Ph.D., from Perspectum in Oxford, England, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study to examine the prevalence of organ impairment in patients with long COVID at six and 12 months after initial symptoms. A total of 536 individuals completed baseline assessment at a median of six months post-COVID-19; 331 (62 percent) with organ impairment or incidental findings had follow-up.

The researchers found that participants had reduced symptom burden at follow-up, with a median of 10 and three symptoms at six and 12 months, respectively. At six and 12 months, extreme breathlessness (38 and 30 percent), cognitive dysfunction (48 and 38 percent), and poor health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L <0.7: 57 and 45 percent) were common; these symptoms were associated with female gender, younger age, and single-organ impairment. Overall, 69 and 23 percent had single- and multi-organ impairment at baseline, respectively, which persisted in 59 and 27 percent at follow-up.

"Organ impairment in long COVID has implications for symptoms, quality of life and longer-term health, signaling the need for prevention and integrated care for long COVID patients," a coauthor said in a statement.

Several authors are employees of Perspectum. One author disclosed financial ties to AstraZeneca.

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