Clinical and functional data of post-COVID-19 patients during 1-year follow-up

<bold>Introduction:</bold> After recovering from COVID-19, patients might continue to have symptoms for a long time. This study aimed to assess the clinical status and pulmonary function testing (PFT) of these patients. <bold>Methods:</bold> Data were obtained from patients visiting our post-COVID outpatient clinic. <bold>Results:</bold> Included were 113 participants (47.8% males) at baseline (3 months). Their mean age was 56.1±13.3 years while 32.1% were ex-smokers and 16.1% current smokers (median 20 pack-years). 51.8% of the participants had been hospitalized due to COVID-19. Of those, 1.8% had been admitted to the ICU and 21.4% to an IMC unit. Regarding comorbidities, 41.7% had arterial hypertension, 13% had diabetes mellitus, 9.3% had asthma, and 3.7% COPD. One year after COVID-19 17.6% of patients still had symptoms necessitating follow-up. The most reported symptoms at the 3 months follow-up were: fatigue, cough, dyspnea and smell loss. Additionally, 9.8% had an obstructive and 20% a restrictive PFT pattern in those without prior lung disease. The latter was associated with having been hospitalized (p=0.035). Clinical data and PFTs in consecutive follow-ups are shown in Table 1. <table-wrap><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA667/TB1</object-id><object-id>T1</object-id><object-id>TB1</object-id><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td></td><td> 3 months N=113 </td><td> 6 months N=61 </td><td> 9 months N=28 </td><td> 12 months N=20 </td></tr><tr><td>Fatigue%</td><td>45.6</td><td>53.3</td><td>41.7</td><td>33.3</td></tr><tr><td>Cough%</td><td>38.6</td><td>26.7</td><td>33.3</td><td>55.6</td></tr><tr><td>Dyspnea%</td><td>29.8</td><td>20.0</td><td>33.3</td><td>33.3</td></tr><tr><td>SpO2, %</td><td>97.2±1.2</td><td>97.7±0.1</td><td>98.0±0.1</td><td>97.6±0.7</td></tr><tr><td>FVC% pred</td><td>103.6±18.7</td><td>110.0±18.0</td><td>116.1±21.0</td><td>108.1±23.6</td></tr><tr><td>FEV1/FVC</td><td>81.9±7.9</td><td>108.1±25.5</td><td>82.1±8.3</td><td>83.2±7.2</td></tr><tr><td>TLC % pred</td><td>100.2±27.3</td><td>114.3±31.1</td><td>111.3±27.0</td><td>107.2±17.0</td></tr><tr><td>RV% pred</td><td>103.4±29.4</td><td>99.1±43.3</td><td>99.8±41.7</td><td>122.3±30.4</td></tr><tr><td>DLCO% pred</td><td>89.3±26.0</td><td>103.8±18.8</td><td>91.7±16.8</td><td>101.7±18.0</td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap> <bold>Conclusions:</bold> A significant number of patients have clinical and/or PFT changes even 1-year after COVID-19.