ABSTRACT
Long COVID is defined as symptoms related to various organs following COVID-19. There is currently very little information available about the prevalence of these symptoms and their long-term recovery time. The aim of this study was to describe the symptoms that persisted nine months after COVID-19. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Antalya, Türkiye, between November 1 and 30, 2020 on COVID-19 patients. Patients were contacted approximately nine months later by two infectious diseases physicians, and the questionnaire which included 27 symptoms was completed. Of the 390 patients who met the criteria, 329 agreed to participate in the study. Patients' average age was 48.9 ± 14.4 years, and 51.7% were male. 79.3% of the people still had at least one symptom at the end of the ninth month. The most common symptoms were weakness-fatigue (54.7%), forgetfulness (45.3%), effort loss (35.0%), sleep disturbance (34.3%), joint pain (27.4%), and hair loss (23.4%). According to analysis performed in terms of sex; hair loss, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, sore throat, loss of taste and smell were more common in women than in men (p= 0.042, p= 0.047, p= 0.050, p= 0.026, p= 0.016, p= 0.036, p= 0.027, respectively). Individuals aged 65 years and over had a significantly lower number of symptoms (p= 0.029) than all other age groups. Furthermore, the number of symptoms was higher in patients who used steroids (p= 0.049). This study is an important source of information on the long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Our results have shown that the symptoms associated with COVID-19 do not completely resolve even after nine months, which explains why long COVID requires continuous monitoring.