Merriam-Webster defines fatigue as ‘weariness or exhaustion from labor, exertion, or stress’. However the word can also ‘convey a medical, clinical, or technical specificity to tiredness.’ More importantly for our purposes, CIDRAP reports half COVID recoveries show lingering fatigue in a selective sample after 10 weeks. This highlights something we did not know in detail before.
The Sample Where Half COVID Recoveries Showed Lingering Fatigue
Researchers from Trinity College, Dublin in Republic of Ireland selected their sample at St James’s Hospital in the city. These were patients visiting an outpatient post-coronavirus care clinic there. They had also all recovered from the acute phase of the disease, but they were not representative of the entire COVID-19 population.
The researchers interviewed their 128 participants using the Chalder Fatigue Scale questionnaire. This method is in common use for assessing physical and mental fatigue in chronic-fatigue syndrome patients.
Sixty-seven of the sample met the Chalder criteria for fatigue, a median 10 weeks after recovery. This rates them higher than the general population, but below the threshold for chronic fatigue syndrome itself.
How a Feeling of Fatigue Affected General Lifestyle of These People
Nearly a third of the sample had still not returned to work. The researchers noted ‘A lengthy post-infection fatigue burden will impair quality of life. And will have significant impact on individuals, employers and healthcare systems.’ The following factors defined the study group:
1… 61% had been hospitalized, with 49% of them receiving hydroxychloroquine and 5% prednisolone.
2… 66% were healthcare workers, but there was no link between occupation and fatigue
3… The median age of the sample was 49.5 years, although the findings ignored age as factor.
4… Previously depressed patients taking anti-depressant drugs were disproportionately likely to have lingering fatigue
This, group in which half COVID recoveries are showing lingering fatigue reflects the overall demographic of Irish healthcare workers. These in turn are disproportionately more likely to contract COVID-19. This trend may therefore have a significant impact on healthcare systems in Republic of Ireland, and beyond its shores.
Related:
COVID Fatigue Could Be the Next Challenge
Could Long COVID Be Four Different Things
Preview Image: Questions in Chalder Fatigue Scale
