Post-discharge pulmonary symptoms recovery and survival status in hospitalized COVID-19 pneumonia: a short term follows-up study

COVID-19 pneumonia remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly among severely ill hospitalized patients. Post-discharge symptom resolution and survival are critical concerns during the early recovery period for both patients and healthcare providers. Evaluation pulmonary symptom recovery and short term survival following hospital discharge in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia are our aim. A prospective observational study was conducted on patients discharged from a university hospital after COVID-19 pneumonia. Patients were followed for three months. Key outcomes included dyspnea, cough, oxygen therapy requirement, and survival status. Dyspnea was assessed using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale, and cough severity was evaluated using a cough symptom score. A total of 105 patients were enrolled with mean age 53.82 ± 18.16 years; 58 (55.2%) female. Among them, 33 (31.4%) had diabetes mellitus and 19 (18%) had chronic respiratory illnesses. At initial hospital presentation, 88 (84%) had dyspnea and 85% had cough. the predominant hospital admission symptoms were dyspnea 47(44%), cough 19(18%), fever 21(20%), and other symptoms 18(17%). Post-discharge, 13 patients (12.4%) required supplemental oxygen, with a mean duration of 40 ± 35 days. MMRC dyspnea scale decline from mean 3.4 ± 0.7 with range of 2–4 to mean 0.2 ± 0.6 with range of 0 to 3 at three month post discharge, cough symptoms score decline from mean 3.0 ± 1.4 with range 0 to 5 at admission to mean 0.01 ± 0.09 with range of 0 to 1 at three month post hospital discharge. Seven patients (6.8%) died during the 3-month follow-up period. Of these, three had required ICU admission, two needed oxygen therapy after discharge, and four had underlying chronic respiratory disease. Predictors of post-discharge mortality included lower oxygen saturation at hospital admission (OR 0.84, 95% CI: 0.73–0.97; p = 0.016) and male gender (OR 37, 95% CI: 1.1–1230; p = 0.04). A significant proportion of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia had resolved respiratory symptoms and require oxygen therapy shortly after discharge. Post-discharge mortality, although relatively low, is associated with poor oxygenation at admission and male gender.