Abstract
Objective This systematic review aimed at estimating the demographics, clinical characteristics, and prevalence of post-acute COVID-19 symptoms in view of published literature that studied prolonged clinical manifestations after recovery from acute COVID-19 infection.
Methods After protocol setting, relevant articles were searched on various databases including PubMed, Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, and Web of Sciences using MeSH keywords.
Results Out of the 153 articles reviewed, 21 articles qualified for the final analysis. The most common persistent clinical manifestations were fatigue (54.11%), dyspnea (24.38%), alopecia (23.21%), hyperhidrosis (23.6%), insomnia (25.98%), anxiety (17.29%), and arthralgia (16.35%). In addition to these symptoms, new-onset hypertension, diabetes, neuropsychiatric disorders, and bladder incontinence were also reported.
Conclusion Clinical features of post-acute COVID-19 infection can manifest even after 60 days of initial infection. Multidisciplinary care along with regular follow-up must be provided to such patients.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
None to declare
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Data was collected after protocol approval from the ethical review board of Foundation University Medical College (ID#FFH/ADC/021/21).
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
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Yes
Footnotes
Competing Interests: Authors have no competing interests to declare
Funding: Authors did not receive any specific funding for this article
Corrected the PRISMA flow chart diagram
Data Availability
not applicable