Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Patients Recovering from COVID-19

Background. Muscle and joint problems are recognized complications following acute infection of coronavirus infection. Long Covid is the recognized term now that is given to symptoms like fatigue, myalgia, respiratory and neurological problems that occur or persist in recovery phase. Objective. The objective of the present study is to identify the long term musculoskeletal complications of SARS-CoV2 infection in a sample of 367 individuals and to analyze the relation between the intensity of these complications and severity of illness. Methods. COVID PCR positive patients were enrolled in this study. COVID-1 9 symptoms at the time of infection and musculoskeletal symptoms like fatigue. myalgia, arthralgia, muscle weakness, cracking or popping sound from joints and muscle stiffness in recovery period were asked from patients. The intensity of these symptoms was also recorded for these symptoms. The data was described in frequency and percentages mostly where P-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results. 187 hospitalized and 180 non hospitalized patients were analyzed in this study. Results showed that a quite large percentage of the enrolled patients suffered from fatigue (55%), myalgia (39%), arthralgia (25%), and muscle weakness (12%) during the 6 months following the confirmed date of COVID 19 infection. No relation between severity of COVID 19 infection and musculoskeletal complications was identified. Conclusions. Most patients had at least one or more symptoms which emphasize the persistence of musculoskeletal problems after recovery from acute illness. The health-care workers need to be vigilant about such problems and plan further steps such as providing rehabilitation for such individuals.