Title : Post COVID-19 syndrome is associated with sex and severity of first COVID-19 episode in Honduras
Abstract:
Background/Introduction: COVID-19’s pandemic has had a catastrophic global impact, with nearly one billion reported infections and seven million deaths worldwide. By the middle 2020, several studies described the so-called long COVID syndrome as an emerging and prevalent syndrome, with a highly diverse set of symptoms that persist long after a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. There is a wide range in the frequency of Post-COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS), ranging 5%-90%. The purpose of the study is to estimate the prevalence of PCS and its association with sex and severity of first COVID-19 episode.
Methods & Materials: A cohort of last-year medical students from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (UNITEC) assigned by the Ministry of Health to primary health clinics (PHC), during 2022-2023, participated in the study. The protocol was approved by UNITEC’s Bioethical Committee. Only subjects that were diagnosed with COVID-19, usually by a RT-PCR test during years 2020-2021 were included. A convenience sample of adults that consecutively attended PHC participated. Date of first COVID-19 episode was established as well as the severity of disease. A 12-week-period after the first COVID-19 symptom appeared was estimated and subjects were asked for the presence and duration of PCS’ symptoms by body organ and systems.
Results: A total of 2967 participated, 59.6% female, 20.3% 51 or more years of age, 71.6% overweight-obese, 17.4% hypertension and 12.2% diabetes mellitus. For first COVID-19 episode: 29.6% asymptomatic, 60.8% mild disease, 6.6% hospitalized, 2.0% severe disease and 0.4% admitted to intensive care unit. PCS’ Prevalence was 51.5% (95% CI: 49.7%-53.3%), prevalence was higher for females 55.6% (95% CI: 53.3%-57.9%, p<0.001) than males 45.4% (95% CI: 42.7%-48.3%). For subjects with Mild-Asymptomatic disease PCS’ Prevalence was lower: 47.2% (95% CI: 45.3%-49.1%) compared to persons that reported Hospitalized-Severe disease 92.2% (95% CI: 88.4%-94.9%, p<0.001).
Discussion: There are very few studies of Post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) in low-and middle-income countries. Convenience sampling, while it's a quick and cost-effective method, it comes with limitations, mainly the potential for sampling bias. Our sample may not represent the entire population affected by COVID-19 accurately. Taking into account this limitation, our study provides insightful evidence on the prevalence of PCS in Honduras and the association with sex and severity of first COVID-19 episode. Conclusion: PCS’ prevalence was 51.5% and it was higher for females (55.6%) and for individuals who reported Hospitalized-Severe disease for the first COVID-19 episode (92.2%).
