In a new study, researchers found three-quarters of a group of patients who received care for coronavirus at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital were still suffering ongoing symptoms three months later.
They found that 81 out of 110 discharged patients were still experiencing symptoms such as breathlessness, excessive fatigue, and muscle aches when invited back to the clinic.
Many were also suffering from poor quality of life compared to the rest of the population, struggling to carry out daily tasks such as washing, dressing, or going back to work.
Most of the patients did, however, report improvements in their initial symptoms of fever, cough, and loss of sense of smell.
Reassuringly, the majority of patients had no evidence of lung scarring or reductions in lung function.
The research was conducted by a team at North Bristol NHS Trust.
This study helps to describe what many coronavirus patients have been telling us: they are still breathless, tired, and not sleeping well months after admission.
Reassuringly, however, abnormalities on X-rays and breathing tests are rare in this group.
The team says there’s still so much we don’t know about the long-term effects of coronavirus, but this study has given vital new insight into what challenges patients may face in their recovery and will help us prepare for those needs.
The researchers hope these findings can help patients and their GPs understand the course of post-COVID illness and the role of routine tests.
One author of the study is Dr. Rebecca Smith, Deputy Director of research and innovation.
The study is published on the preprint server medRxiv.
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