• M Sotiriadou, S Birka, E Oikonomidou, E Κouzoukidou, and P Mpogiatzidis.
• Health Center of Evosmos, Thessaloniki, Greece.
• Hippokratia. 2022 Oct 1; 26 (4): 138142138-142.

BackgroundFollowing the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the long COVID or post-COVID syndrome refers to a relatively complex novel clinical entity. We conducted this study to assess the primary epidemiological features, main symptoms, and comorbidities probably related to this syndrome in patients referred to our long/post-COVID primary care unit during the initial months of its operation.Methods And MaterialThis single-center prospective observational study was conducted between April 2022 and December 2022 and enrolled 71 patients (33 men, 38 women) who were examined due to persisting symptoms after recovering from COVID-19 infection, with the mean time of the first visit estimated at 3.12 ± 2.41 months from their acute COVID-19 illness. A thorough medical history, clinical examination, laboratory, and any other tests were performed on all patients when necessary.ResultsThe most common symptoms of long/post-COVID reported were fatigue (63.4 %), a persistent cough (45.1 %), stress manifestations (42.3 %), arthralgia or myalgia (33.8 %), tachycardia (32.4 %), depression manifestations (29.6 %), exertional dyspnea (28.2 %), and sleep disorders (25.4 %). Hypertension (in about 40 %) and the presence of five or more symptoms during the acute COVID-19 illness (in approximately 52 %) could be regarded as factors increasing the long/post-COVID appearance. The long/post-COVID syndrome affects even patients not experiencing severe COVID-19 illness. Unvaccinated patients are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 (p =0.014), higher risk of hospitalization (p =0.002), and in higher need of respiratory support with high flow (p =0.017) when compared to vaccinated ones. Hospitalized patients appear to be older than outpatients (59 ± 12.42 vs 52.78 ± 11.48 years of age; p =0.032.ConclusionThe long/post-COVID syndrome is an established clinical entity, and several clinical features, symptoms, and patient profiles have to be assessed from the initial medical contact in primary care to exclude early any other clinical conditions and offer guided therapeutic strategies to those patients. HIPPOKRATIA 2022, 26 (4):138-142.Copyright 2022, Hippokratio General Hospital of Thessaloniki.

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