Gastrointestinal symptoms in coronavirus disease 2019: a cross-sectional study in Wuhan, China (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background To investigate the clinical symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly the prevalence, time of symptom onset, and duration of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.Methods This was a cross-sectional study using paper questionnaires. COVID-19 patients in a temporary hospital in Wuhan voluntarily completed surveys collecting data on COVID-19 symptoms and investigation results.Results A total of 212 adults were enrolled in this study, of whom 127 (59.9%) were female, mean age was 48.50 ± 13.15 years. Concerning symptoms, 78.8% (167/212) had fever, and 66% (140/212) had cough. Diarrhoea occurred in 43.8% (93/212) of patients. Nausea and vomiting were also common (20.7%). Fever and cough were frequently the initial symptoms of COVID-19, and they lasted for 5.00 [interquartile range (IQR) 3.00–10.00] days and 10.00 (IQR 5.00–24.00) days, respectively. Most patients developed nausea and vomiting 2.00 (IQR 0–9.00) days and diarrhoea 5.00 (IQR 0.25–11.00) days after the onset of initial symptoms, respectively. There was a median duration of 4.00 (IQR 2.00–8.75) days with diarrhoea, and 6.00 (IQR 4.00–10.00) days with nausea and vomiting. The patients with diarrhoea were younger [45.85 ± 13.28 years vs 50.61 ± 12.82 years, P = 0.009] and were more likely to have an abnormal chest CT (95.7% vs 82.4%, P = 0.001) than those without diarrhoea.Conclusions In our cohort of patients, GI symptoms were common in COVID-19, occurred mostly during the middle stage of the disease, and lasted for a short duration. GI symptoms may not be associated with COVID-19 related treatment.