ABSTRACT
Background: Fatigue and dyspnea are the most common long-COVID symptoms in people who recovered from COVID-19. It is important to understand related factors with fatigue and dyspnea in young adults for early detection of the existing or future chronic disease risk and secondary prevention. Objective(s): To investigate the relationship between fatigue, dyspnea, respiratory functions, functional exercise capacity, physical activity, and anxiety in young adults who recovered from COVID-19. Method(s): Twenty-seven individuals (4 male, 23 female) aged 18-25/years (mean age=21.4+/-1.8/years), diagnosed with COVID-19 and at least 12 weeks passed after diagnosis (mean 231.84+/-118.1/days) were included in the study. Dyspnea-12 and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) were used to evaluate dyspnea and fatigue. Respiratory functions and respiratory muscle strength (maximal inspiratory pressure-MIP, maximal expiratory pressure-MEP) were assessed using spirometry and intraoral pressure gauge. Functional exercise capacity was evaluated with the "6-minute walking test (6MWT)". International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) were used to evaluate physical activity and anxiety Results: Of the subjects, %63 reported fatigue and 37% reported dyspnea. None of the subjects were treated at the hospital during the disease. There were significant moderate negative correlations between Dyspnea-12 and %peak expiratory flow-PEF (p=0.020), and FSS and MEP (p=0.009). Time after PCR, age, 6MWT, IPAQ-SF, and CAS were not correlated with FSS or Dyspnea-12. Conclusion(s): Our results showed that fatigue and dyspnea are related with expiratory muscle strength and PEF in young adults who recovered from COVID-19.