International Journal of Medical and Health Research

Authors
Rashmi H Poojara, Sana Fathima Salam, Feba George, Jesnet Sebastian

Abstract
The study was carried out on post-COVID patients in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala by assessing the Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), comorbidities, and symptoms during and after COVID, fatigue, stress, and insomnia. For six months, a community-centered prospective cohort research was conducted among 250 subjects. The gender profile indicated 42% men and 58% women, the age wise distribution showed that 56% of them were between the age of 18 and 29 years. In 23% of subjects the Dietary Diversity Score was high. The most common comorbidities identified were hypertension (39.2%), diabetes mellitus (36%), obesity (26.6%), and renal disease (24%). The most common COVID symptoms among subjects were dry cough (94%), exhaustion (92.8%), loss of taste or smell (92%), headache (92%), dyspnea (92%), and diarrhea (72.4%). Fever (59.2%), chest pain (55.2%), and skin rashes (48.4%) were the additional symptoms reported. The most prevalent post-COVID symptoms among subjects was joint discomfort (93.2%), followed by weakness (90%), shortness of breath (89.2%), sore throat (86.8%), and lack of appetite (86.4%) respectively. 1.6% subjects reported subthreshold sleeplessness throughout the infection period, 24% of patients indicated they were completely exhausted, and 47.8% of patients indicated slight degree of stress. In the post-COVID period, 49.6% of subjects indicated subthreshold insomnia, 52.4% indicated moderate stress, and 55.2% reported feeling severely stressed. Pearson, Karl Analysis using correlation and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) among variables during long COVID, the coefficients for various parameters for the participants were assessed. Post-COVID is associated with comorbidities and illness severity. There were noticeably more COVID-19 survivors who experienced stress, sleeplessness, and new-onset weariness. Because COVID-19 affects numerous systems and has an effect on health and wellbeing, understanding its long-term effects is just as crucial as addressing its immediate symptoms.