London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 02, 2025

Complete Recovery Of Covid Patients May Take Longer Than 1 Year: Study

Complete Recovery Of Covid Patients May Take Longer Than 1 Year: Study

Coronavirus: The research on 1,276 patients from Wuhan, China, shows that around one in three people still experienced shortness of breath after 12 months.
Around half the people hospitalised with COVID-19 experience at least one persistent symptom up to 12 months after the infection, according to a study published in The Lancet journal on Friday.

The research on 1,276 patients from Wuhan, China, shows that around one in three people still experienced shortness of breath after 12 months, while lung impairments persisted in some patients, especially those who had experienced the most severe illness with COVID-19.

COVID-19 survivors were found to be less healthy than people from the wider community who had not been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

"Our study is the largest to date to assess the health outcomes of hospitalised COVID-19 survivors after 12 months of becoming ill," said Professor Bin Cao, from China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

"While most had made a good recovery, health problems persisted in some patients, especially those who had been critically ill during their hospital stay," Cao said.

The study findings suggest that recovery for some patients will take longer than one year, and this should be taken into account when planning delivery of healthcare services post-pandemic.

A previous study by the same team on 1,733 hospitalised COVID-19 survivors found that around three-quarters of patients had persistent health problems after six months of infection.

The new study analysed data from patients who had been discharged from hospital between January 7 and May 29, 2020.

The patients underwent detailed health checks at six and 12 months to assess any ongoing symptoms and their health-related quality of life.

These included face-to-face questionnaires, physical examinations, lab tests, and a six-minute walking test to gauge patients'' endurance levels.

The average age of patients included in the study was 57 years. Patient outcomes were tracked for an average of 185 days and 349 days.

Many symptoms resolved over time, regardless of the severity of initial COVID-19 disease, the researchers said.

However, the proportion of patients still experiencing at least one symptom after one year fell from 68 per cent at six months to 49 per cent at 12 months, they said.

This decrease was observed regardless of the severity of COVID-19 the patients had experienced when hospitalised.

The study shows that fatigue or muscle weakness was the most commonly reported symptom with around half of patients experiencing this at six months, falling to one in five patients at one year.

Almost one third of patients reported experiencing shortness of breath at 12 months, which was slightly higher than at six months, according to the researchers.

This was more prevalent in patients who had been the most severely ill and had been on a ventilator during their time in hospital, compared to those who had not required oxygen treatment, they said.

At the six-month check, 349 study participants underwent a lung function test and 244 of those patients completed the same test at 12 months.

The proportion of patients experiencing diffusion impairment did not improve from six months to 12 months and this was seen across all groups regardless of how ill they had been when hospitalised.

Also at the six-month check, 353 study participants underwent a chest CT scan.

The researchers found that around one half of them showed lung abnormalities on their scan.

Of the 118 patients who completed the scan at 12 months, the proportion of patients with abnormalities decreased substantially across all groups but was still high, particularly in the most critically ill group, they said.

Compared with men, women were 1.4 times more likely to report fatigue or muscle weakness, twice as likely to report anxiety or depression, and almost three times as likely to have lung diffusion impairment after 12 months, according to the study.

People who had been treated with corticosteroids during the acute phase of their illness with COVID-19 were 1.5 times as likely to experience fatigue or muscle weakness after 12 months, compared to those who had not been treated during their illness.

The researchers found that slightly more patients experienced anxiety or depression at one year than at six months and the proportion was much greater in COVID-19 survivors than in matched people from the wider community.

"We do not yet fully understand why psychiatric symptoms are slightly more common at one year than at six months in COVID-19 survivors," said Xiaoying Gu, one of the study''s authors, from China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

"These could be caused by a biological process linked to the virus infection itself, or the body''s immune response to it. Or they could be linked to reduced social contact, loneliness, incomplete recovery of physical health or loss of employment associated with illness," Gu said.

The authors acknowledged that their study was focused on a single hospital and so patient outcomes may not be generalisable to other settings.

The study included only a small number of patients who had been admitted to intensive care and findings relating to the most critically ill patients should be interpreted with caution, they added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Canada with Tariffs Over Palestinian State Recognition
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Trump Sues Murdoch in “Heavyweight Bout”: Lawsuit Over Alleged Epstein Letter Sets Stage for Courtroom Showdown
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
J.K. Rowling Limits Public Engagements Citing Safety Fears
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
×