COVID-19 Outcome: A One Year Follow-Up Study of Patients who Recovered from COVID-19 at Lung Center of the Philippines

ABSTRACT

Introduction: To date, the Philippines had tallied more than 3 million COVID-19 cases with 91.5% recovery rate and 1.72% mortality rate. Some patients who recovered from COVID-19 are left struggling with symptoms which persist through weeks, months and even a year. Objective(s) To determine the clinical outcome after 1 year of COVID-19 recovered patients in terms of persistent symptoms, functional capacity, and survival status and their relationship with disease severity. Method(s) This is a cross sectional-analytical study. Subjects include those who were discharged improved from April - August 2020 at Lung Center of the Philippines. Their clinical outcome after 1 year which include persistent symptoms, functional capacity and survival status were determined and analyzed. Result(s) A total of 100 subjects were included in this study. Forty-three subjects had persistent symptoms. Fatigue (28.6%), depression (13.3%), and brain fog (11.2%) were the most frequently reported symptoms. Ninety-two (92.9%) patients had none to negligible functional capacity limitations. Ninety-seven (97%) patients survived after 1 year. Higher proportion of patients with persistent fatigue and difficulty of breathing were noted as the severity increases. Higher proportion of patients with functional scale 1-2 were noted in moderate severity group as compared to the severe and critical severity group. Conclusion(s) This one-year follow-up study of COVID-19 recovered patients revealed high proportion of survivors, very few with significant functional capacity limitations, and some with persistent symptoms. Favorable clinical outcomes after 1 year were evident in less severe disease.