Factors Associated with Clinical Sequelae of COVID-19 Survivors at a Secondary-Level Hospital in Central Thailand
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Abstract
Long COVID is one of the biggest challenges for healthcare professionals caring for COVID-19 survivors. However, research studies regarding this issue in Thailand are limited. Therefore, this study aimed to explore factors associated with the clinical sequelae of COVID-19 survivors. A total of 268 COVID-19 survivors aged over 20 who received service at a secondary-level hospital in central Thailand were recruited into the study. Data were obtained from medical records and using three questionnaires to measure the feelings of loneliness, stigma, and clinical sequelae that persisted after COVID-19 infection. To determine the associations between reported clinical sequelae and selected factors, Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test was used.
The result shown among the 268 COVID-19 survivors, 167 (62.31%) reported having Long COVID. Symptoms often reported were fatigue (44.78%), memory loss (26.12%), tachypnea after activity (23.88%), joint pain (22.39%), and sleep disorder (22.39%). Factors significantly associated with long COVID (p-value < .05) were 1) male gender, 2) BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, 3) Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) > 4, 4) having severe disease of COVID-19, 5) receiving antiviral drugs, 6) requiring oxygen with cannula support 6) having loneliness and 7) having stigma. Nurses and healthcare professionals taking care of this group of patients should be aware of these factors and use them to determine whether an individual is at risk of long-term COVID-19 symptoms. Nursing practice guidelines for long-term COVID-19 symptoms often reported should be developed as well.
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