Associations of dyspnea symptoms with lung function in patients with COVID-19 in the acute period (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background Currently, the main prevalent strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is Omicron, which shows elevated viral load and spread ability, bringing new challenges to pandemic prevention and control.Objective To examine the associations of dyspnea symptoms with lung function in coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) patients during the acute period.Methods This study included COVID-19 cases diagnosed by real-time PCR (RT-PCR). These patients were divided into the dyspnea and non-dyspnea groups based on whether they had dyspnea symptoms at the time of admission.Results A total of 29 patients with pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were included in this study. Of all patients, 17.24% (5/29) had severe COVID-19, while the remaining cases were mild or moderate. Lung function was normal, with forced vital capacity (FVC) ≥ 80%, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/FVC ≥ 0.92, and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) ≥ 80% in 96.55% (28/29), 79.31% (23/29), and 72.41% (21/29) of patients, respectively. Computer tomography (CT) findings were normal in 10.34% (3/29) of patients.Conclusions Multivariate analysis showed that lung function and chest CT parameters are not independently associated with dyspnea persistence in acute COVID-19 patients.