JAMA: 75% of critically ill COVID-19 patients still have physical or mental problems a year after discharge

Written | Edited by Wang Cong | Typesetting by Wang Duoyu | Shui Chengwen Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, human beings' understanding of the virus has been constantly refreshed
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It is obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused immeasurable losses to the world economy and profoundly affected the social order of mankind
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The receptor ACE2 of the new coronavirus is a receptor protein widely distributed in the human body, mainly in organs and tissues such as the respiratory tract, intestine, kidney, heart and testis
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Many studies have pointed out that the new coronavirus infection will not only bring disease and death, but also cause other complications, and cause sequelae of varying degrees and symptoms after the patient recovers
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Common sequelae include loss of smell, fatigue, dyspnea, joint pain, chest pain and even depression
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Many studies have shown that after being infected with the new coronavirus, even after recovery, there may still be long-term sequelae, so some people call it "Long COVID"
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So, what is the long-term impact of the new crown on those severely ill patients who have been admitted to the ICU? On January 24, 2022, a research team from Radboud University in the Netherlands published a research paper titled: Clinical Outcomes Among Patients With 1-Year Survival Following Intensive Care Unit Treatment for COVID-19 in the top international medical journal JAMA
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The research team followed and monitored critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between March 2020 and July 2020, including 246 survivors (176 males, 70 females, average age 61 years old) ) completed a 1-year follow-up, which is also the first global scientific study on the long-term problems of COVID-19 ICU survivors
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It was found that 75% of these survivors developed physical or mental/cognitive problems one year after leaving the ICU
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The study showed that 74.
3% of COVID-19 ICU survivors still had various problems a year after leaving the ICU
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These are mainly physical problems, with half of them experiencing fatigue, other physical problems such as pain, muscle weakness and shortness of breath
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In addition, psychiatric symptoms were also common, with 26.
2% experiencing psychiatric symptoms and feeling anxious or post-traumatic stress
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In addition, 16.
2% had cognitive problems, such as problems with memory or concentration
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These various problems negatively affect their daily lives
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More than half reported problems at work due to health conditions, some of whom had reduced hours, some were still on sick leave, and some had even had to quit their jobs
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Marieke Zegers, lead researcher at the Radboud University Medical Centre, said the study showed that Covid-19 had an incredible impact on critically ill patients who had been in the ICU, and while they survived, 75 per cent of them were in the first ICU.
Years later, there are still various physical and mental problems, and half of the people are unable to fully return to normal work and life due to fatigue or lack of energy
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Paper link: https://jamanetwork.
com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2788504 Open for reprinting, welcome to forward to Moments and WeChat groups