More than half of COVID-19 survivors experience symptoms a year later

• Also known as “long haulers,” COVID-19 survivors continue to suffer side effects more than a year later.
• Shortness of breath is the most common symptom.
• Anxiety and depression also grew within 12 months of diagnosis.

Roughly half of COVID-19 survivors have still experienced at least one symptom a year after being released from the hospital, according to a new study.

People in this group, sometimes described as “long haulers,” continue to suffer side effects — both physically and mentally.

The study, led by researchers at Capital Medical University in Beijing, looked at patients in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began in late 2019. It found that 68% of patients still had at least one persistent COVID-19 symptom after being released from the hospital, but patients complaining about shortness of breath rose between a 12-month period, from 26% to 30%.

“We found that most patients had a good physical and functional recovery during follow-up, and the majority of study participants who were employed before COVID-19 had returned to their original work,” researchers said in the study published in The Lancet.

“However, sequelae symptoms, lung diffusion impairment, and radiographic abnormalities persisted to 12 months in some patients, especially in patients who were critically ill during hospital stay.”

Mental and physical pain linger

COVID-19 long haulers have become a legitimate health concern in the U.S, which President Biden recently announced would be covered under federal disability law. The symptoms cited in the announcement — like lingering issues with breathing, brain fog, chronic pain or fatigue — are similar to what patients in China experienced long after getting sick with COVID-19.

The researchers interviewed COVID-19 survivors six and 12 months after symptom onset between January and May 2020. Nearly half (49%) complained about sleep problems, heart palpitations, joint pain or chest pain 12 months later. Women, especially, suffered worsening odds of feeling fatigue or muscle weakness, according to the study.

In addition, mental health conditions deteriorated during the time period. More patients reported anxiety or depression at 12 months compared to six months; the number rose from 23% to 26%.

Compared to a general population, the percentage of patients experiencing anxiety or depression is much larger (26% versus 5%).

“We do not yet fully understand why psychiatric symptoms are slightly more common at one year than at six months in COVID-19 survivors,” said Xiaoying Gu, one of the authors of the study.

“These could be caused by a biological process linked to the virus infection itself, or the body’s immune response to it. Or they could be linked to reduced social contact, loneliness, incomplete recovery of physical health or loss of employment associated with illness. Large, long-term studies of COVID-19 survivors are needed so that we can better understand the long-term physical and mental health consequences of COVID-19.”

Some people never return to work

Work was also impacted by people experiencing long-term COVID symptoms.

Twelve percent of people in the study said they didn’t return to work after falling ill, citing decreased physical function as the most popular reason. However, most of the 1,276 patients interviewed did return to their pre-COVID-19 level of work within 12 months, according to the study.

For more on COVID-19: U.S. probing whether Moderna vaccine is linked to higher heart inflammation risk.