A RECENT study has revealed that Long-Covid patients show limited recovery, one year after being discharged from hospital.
The study assessed adults in the UK who have been hospitalised due to Covid-19.
The UK wide PHOSP-COVID study found that fewer than three in ten Covid-19 patients may be fully recovered one year after being hospitalised.
The study also suggested that patients who were female, over-weight and who required ventilation during their hospital stay were least likely to make a full recovery.
The Office for National Statistics reported that as of 2 December 2021, an estimated 1.2 million people (1.9% of the population) in the UK, living in private households were experiencing self-reported Long-Covid symptoms.
The University of Dundee’s Professor James Chalmers, who represents Scotland on the PHOSP-COVID study management board said: “There is a clear need for a national programme of action to develop new support and treatment for patients experiencing Long-Covid.
“Until now, there has understandably been a focus on patients presenting with acute Covid-19, particularly those who are hospitalised or who require intensive care.
“This has meant a lot of patients with Long-Covid have felt forgotten, but these results show that it is important that we do not let this happen. This is a really nasty, chronic condition and there is an urgent need for more treatments that can help.”
Professor Chalmers continued: “More positively, this is the first study that has looked in detail at what causes Long-Covid. Identifying that an ongoing inflammatory process is at work means we have a potential starting point for developing new treatments that target this inflammation.”
Researchers from 53 institutions and 83 hospitals across the UK assessed 2,230 adults who has been hospitalised due to Covid-19.
The study measured patient recovery using patient-reported data, physical performance and organ function tests.
The most common ongoing symptoms of the condition were found to be fatigue, muscle pain, physically slowing down, poor sleep and breathlessness.
Professor Chris Brightling, NIHR Senior Investigator and Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Leicester and Chief Investigator for the PHOSP-COVID study said: “Many patients in our study had not fully recovered at five months and most of these reported little positive change in their health condition at one year.
“When you consider that over half a million people in the UK have been admitted to hospital as a result of Covid-19, we are talking about a sizeable population at risk of persistent ill-health and reduced quality of life.”
