
COVID-related hospitalization and impaired lung function strongly predict reduced physical capacity and breathlessness in unvaccinated participants for up to 3 years after infection, but even patients with less severe infections can experience long-term weakness, researchers at Umea University in Sweden report in the Journal of Infection.
The investigators evaluated lung function in 291 participants—35% of whom were hospitalized—3 to 6 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection from April 2020 to May 2021 and conducted follow-up visits for up to 3 years.
The team used the 1-minute sit-to-stand test to measure physical capacity in 191 participants and the modified Medical Research Council scale to compare breathlessness in 179 patients with that of a reference population. All hospitalized patients were adults, while the non-hospitalized group included patients aged 15 years and older.
Physical capacity improved for up to 2 years
In total, 34.7% of patients were hospitalized and 8.9% of all patients received intensive care. Hospitalized patients were older (58 vs 48 years), had a higher body mass index (BMI) than their non-hospitalized counterparts (29.9 kilograms per square meter vs 24.9), had more chronic conditions, were men rather than women (64% vs 53%), and were more likely to have smoked (37.0% vs 18.0%).
Our findings emphasize that non-hospitalised individuals also experienced reduced physical capacity, highlighting the need for targeted rehabilitation strategies and further research to optimize recovery outcomes across all affected populations.
Physical capacity significantly improved in all participants up to 2 years after diagnosis, then plateaued. Hospitalization and impaired lung function were significantly tied to breathlessness and reduced physical capacity. While non-hospitalized patients' physical capacity improved for up to 2 years, improvement for hospitalized patients plateaued by 6 months.
"Our findings indicate that improvement in physical capacity and breathlessness may continue up to two years post-infection," the study authors wrote. "These results are encouraging, as previous research has shown that even individuals with initially mild disease may experience impaired lung function at the time of infection, with limited recovery observed two years later."
"Our findings emphasize that non-hospitalised individuals also experienced reduced physical capacity, highlighting the need for targeted rehabilitation strategies and further research to optimize recovery outcomes across all affected populations," they concluded.