Follow-up of practiced treatment regimens and health conditions of patients following recovery from COVID-19 residing in Dhaka City: a survey-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE

To observe the prognosis of cases of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), focusing on symptoms, treatment and post-recovery health conditions.

METHODOLOGY

The respondents were residents of Dhaka City, Bangladesh who had a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research from October to December 2020. They were followed up 1-3 months after diagnosis. Data were collected via Google forms sent directly by e-mail, and were analysed using SPSS. Participation was voluntary, and confidentiality of the respondents was strictly maintained.

RESULTS

Five hundred and twenty-two of 3148 patients who had recovered from COVID-19 responded to the survey. The mean (±standard deviation) age and body mass index of the respondents were 39.8±13 years and 26.4±6.5 kg/m, respectively. More males than females participated in this study (70.3% vs 29.5%). Approximately 39.3% of respondents had comorbidities. The majority (88.5%) of respondents had experienced symptoms, including fever, fatigue, anosmia and aguesia, body pain, headache and dry cough, for 1-5 days. Respondents were treated with antibiotics (72.4%), antiparasitics (47.9%) and antivirals (15.9%). Overall, respondents were RT-PCR positive for a mean of 19.7±7.6 days. Symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, uneasiness, body pain and dry cough persisted in 76.3% of respondents when they were RT-PCR negative.

CONCLUSION

For most respondents, COVID-19 symptoms extended beyond the period of RT-PCR positivity. Further studies are needed to determine the changing status of COVID-19.