Mortality, cardiovascular disease and long covid at 3 months in individuals hospitalized with covid-19-a whf study

Abstract Background COVID-19 pandemic presents a number of unpredictable and long-lasting challenges. Understanding the short- and long-term effects of COVID-19 infection is crucial for better planning of preventive and management strategies for future pandemics. This study aims to determine short- and long-term clinical sequelae among COVID-19 hospitalized patients across low-middle-, upper-middle and high-income countries. Methods This global, multi-centre, prospective cohort study across 16 countries aimed to recruit 3300 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. We evaluated persistent long COVID symptoms, re-admissions, death, cardiovascular disease complications, new onset hypertension or diabetes, reinfection with COVID-19, vaccination, quality of life and costs at 1, 3, 6, 9-12-months post-hospital discharge using a standardized questionnaire over the phone. We are reporting interim descriptive analysis including demographic characteristics and short-term (3-month) clinical sequelae among COVID-19 hospitalized patients. Results We present baseline characteristics and follow-up data for 1,474 patients at the 3 months visit after hospital discharge. The patients were predominantly Asian (97%), male (55%) with a mean age (SD) of 56 (19.6) years and from low- and middle-income (82%), upper middle-income (4%) and high-income (14%) countries. 60% of the patients had received 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccination. 92% patients had fever and 90% had cough when admitted to hospital. More than one-third of patients (38%) reported at least one long COVID-19 symptom. Most commonly reported long COVID-19 symptoms were fatigue (22%), memory impairment, concentration, or decision-making (15%), and feeling more anxious (11%). Nearly half of the patients reported mild fatigue (46%) and 8% had severe fatigue. Less than 1% of patients reported loss of smell or taste. Most commonly reported post-discharge complications (new onset illnesses) were pulmonary embolism (8%), kidney involvement (2%) and new onset hypertension (1%). A quarter of patients reported problems in self-care, and 7%-12% patients reported pain or mobility issues or anxiety/depression. At 3-month follow-up, 3% of the patients had died and the most common causes of death were sudden cardiac arrest (33%), liver dysfunction/end stage renal disease (31%) and stroke or respiratory illness (13%). Conclusions Three months after hospitalized COVID-19, our interim analysis revealed a 3-month mortality rate of 3% mostly due to sudden cardiac arrest, liver dysfunction, stroke and respiratory diseases (relatively higher compared to studies from other regions). Patients commonly reported persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, memory/concentration impairment, and anxiety. Further, long-term follow-up data will guide health policies to prevent and manage long COVID sequelae worldwide.Table 1Figure 1