COVID-19 survivors report physical, mental, cognitive symptoms 1 year after ICU care

Physical, mental and cognitive symptoms were frequently reported among a cohort of Dutch patients 1 year after they had been released from the ICU for COVID-19, data show.

“This study shows what an incredible impact an ICU admission has on the lives of former COVID-19 patients,” Marieke Zegers, MSc, PhD, a senior researcher at the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said in a press release. “Even after 1 year, half of them is tired or experience lack of the energy to fully resume their work.”

The researchers analyzed questionnaires completed by 246 patients (mean age, 61.2 years; 71.5% men; median ICU stay, 18 days) who were admitted to one of 11 ICUs with COVID-19 during the first surge of the disease. The questionnaires were completed 1 year after the patient was discharged from the ICU, and the researchers measured the answers against validated assessment tools (eg, Clinical Frailty Scale score, Hospital Anxiety and Depression subscale score, Impact of Event Scale score).

Zegers and colleagues wrote in JAMA that 74.3% (95% CI, 68.3-79.6) of the patients reported that they experienced physical symptoms, 26.2% (95% CI, 20.8-32.2) said they had symptoms indicative of mental health concerns and 16.2% (95% CI, 11.8-21.5) reported symptoms of possible cognitive decline.

Two-thirds of respondents reported experiencing new physical problems “as a result of ICU treatment for COVID-19,” according to the researchers. The most frequently reported new physical symptom was weakness (38.9%), followed by joint stiffness (26.3%), joint pain (25.5%), muscle weakness (24.8%) and myalgia (21.3%). In addition, among all patients, 17.9% reported symptoms of anxiety, 18.3% reported symptoms of depression and 9.8% reported symptoms of PTSD. The median Cognitive Failure Questionnaire-14 score — where a score of 43 points or higher indicates possible cognitive failure — was 24.8 points (interquartile range = 12.8-37) among the participants.

“Important information about ICU treatment, such as the use of sedation, prone positioning and occurrence of delirium was not available,” Zegers and colleagues wrote. “Furthermore, information about post-ICU treatment, such as the use of rehabilitation programs, was also not available. This information could have been valuable to better interpret 1-year outcomes.”

The researchers added that they did not analyze outcomes among ICU patients who did not have COVID-19. Thus, they “cannot conclude that the symptoms at 1 year were specific for COVID-19.”

References:

Heesakkers H, et al. JAMA. 2022;doi:10.1001/jama.2022.0040.

Most COVID-19 ICU survivors experience symptoms one year after ICU admission. Published Jan. 24, 2022. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/941007. Accessed Jan. 31, 2022.