Fatigue symptoms associated with COVID-19 in convalescent or recovered COVID-19 patients; a systematic review and meta-analysis [article]

Sanjay Rao, Tarek Benzouak, Sasha Gunpat, Rachel J Burns, Tayyeb A Tahir, Stephen Jolles, Steve Kisely
2021 medRxiv   pre-print
The prevalence and prognosis of post-acute stage SARS-CoV-2 infection fatigue symptoms remain largely unknown. Aims We performed a systematic review to evaluate the prevalence of fatigue in post-recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Method Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, trial registries, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Google Scholar were searched for studies on fatigue in samples that recovered from PCR diagnosed COVID-19. Meta-analyses were
more » ... d separately for each recruitment setting. Results We identified 39 studies with 8825 patients that recovered from COVID-19. Post-COVID-19 patients self-report of fatigue was higher compared to healthy controls (RR = 3.688, 95%CI [2.502, 5.436], p < 0.001). Over 50% of patients discharged from inpatient care reported symptoms of fatigue during the first (ER = 0.517, 95%CI [0.278, 0.749]) and second month following recovery (ER = 0.527, 95%CI [0.337, 0.709]). 10% of the community patients reported fatigue in the first month post-recovery. Patient setting moderated the association between COVID-19 recovery and fatigue symptoms (R2 = 0.12, p < 0.001). Female gender was associated with greater self-report of fatigue (OR =1.782, 95%CI [1.531, 2.870]). Patients recruited through social media had fatigue above 90% across multiple time points. Fatigue was highest in studies from Europe. Conclusion Fatigue is a symptom associated with functional challenges which could have economic and social impacts. Developing long-term planning for fatigue management amongst patients beyond acute stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection is essential to optimizing patient care and public health outcomes.
doi:10.1101/2021.04.23.21256006 fatcat:7kpju6prr5bhrfj2vbqdm7atje