Surviving COVID-19 is nothing less than a miracle for those who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) because of being infected with the coronavirus. But such patients may show physical, mental, and cognitive effects even after a year of recovering from COVID-19, new data found. Moreover, around 60 per cent of those who had jobs before being admitted to the hospital reported problems at work a year later. They worked for fewer hours or were still taking sick leaves. The study, conducted in the Netherlands, included 246 patients who were admitted to ICU for treatment of COVID-19 a year ago. These people were admitted to 11 different hospitals.
Researchers found:
- 74.3 per cent reported physical symptoms
- 26.2 per cent reported mental health symptoms
- 16.2 per cent reported cognitive symptoms
The study, which was led by Hidde Heesakkers, MD, Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues, was recently published online in JAMA. According to the study, two-thirds of COVID-19 survivors who participated in the study reported new physical problems as a result of ICU treatment for COVID.
“This study shows what an incredible impact an ICU admission has on the lives of former COVID-19 patients. Even after 1 year, half [are] tired or experience lack of the energy to fully resume their work,” coauthor Marieke Zegers, PhD, also from Radboud University Medical Center, said in a press release.
“Based on our findings, patients at high risk for long-term problems should start with rehabilitation while still in the ICU and shortly after to mitigate or even prevent these problems. There is no standard care post-ICU for ICU survivors,” Zegers was quoted as saying in a report.
They are doing more research to find why one-fourth of the patients had no symptoms.