"Only 29% of COVID Hospitalized Patients Fully Recover Within a Year... The Rest Suffer from 'Long COVID'"

Published 24 Apr.2022 15:43(KST)

Women, obese individuals, and respiratory disease patients have lower 'complete recovery probability'

"Only 29% of COVID Hospitalized Patients Fully Recover Within a Year... The Rest Suffer from 'Long COVID'"

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Se-eun] A study has revealed that only 29% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 fully recovered within one year.

On the 24th (local time), the British daily The Times and AFP reported that the remaining 71% suffer from long-term aftereffects of COVID-19, commonly known as 'long Covid.'

According to a report by the UK's National Health Service (NHS) published in the British medical journal The Lancet, only 26% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 were fully recovered after five months.

When the period was extended to one year, the percentage of fully recovered individuals slightly increased to 28.9%. However, the remaining 70% were found to suffer from long-term aftereffects lasting more than one year.

By gender, women had a 33% lower chance of full recovery compared to men.

Additionally, the likelihood of full recovery for obese individuals was about half that of non-obese individuals, and those who required mechanical ventilation had a 58% lower chance of recovery than those who did not.

The most common post-COVID-19 symptoms included fatigue, muscle pain, physical weakness, lack of sleep, and shortness of breath.

Dr. Christopher Brightling, a respiratory specialist at the University of Leicester Medical School who participated in the study, warned, "Without effective treatments, post-COVID symptoms will become a widespread, new chronic disease."

The study was conducted by evaluating 807 cases of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and discharged from 39 hospitals across the UK from March 2020 to April 2021.