Eighteen papers that reported one-year follow-up data from 8,591 COVID-19 survivors were included in the meta-analysis.
What did the researchers find out?
The most prevalent symptoms at one-year follow-up were:
- Fatigue/weakness
- Dyspnoea (difficulty breathing)
- Arthromyalgia (muscular pain associated with a joint)
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Memory loss
- Concentration difficulties
- Insomnia.
“Existing evidence suggested that female patients and those with more severe initial illness were more likely to suffer from the sequelae after one year,” wrote the researchers.
They concluded: “This study demonstrated that a sizeable proportion of COVID-19 survivors still experience residual symptoms involving various body systems one year later.