Follow-up of Practiced Treatment Regimens & Health Conditions of Recovered Patients of COVID-19 Residing in Dhaka City: A Survey-based Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

• About 88.5% of the respondents suffered from various symptoms for minimum 1 to 5 days • Around 8% of the respondents reported taking antibiotics without consulting doctors • A mean of 19.71±7.56 days was required for respondents to become RT-PCR negative • Fatigue, anxiety, body pain, cough etc. persisted in 76% of the recovered respondents • For most, becoming symptom-free took longer than RT-PCR negativity This survey-based cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to observe the prognosis of COVID-19 cases, focusing on the symptoms, treatment, and post-recovery health conditions. The respondents were Dhaka city (Bangladesh) residents, with a RT-PCR confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus-19 from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) from October to December 2020. They were followed up 1 to 3 months after diagnosis, data were collected via Google forms directly sent through emails and were analyzed using SPSS. Participation was consensual, and confidentiality of the respondents was strictly maintained. Out of 3,148 recovered patients, 522 patients responded to the survey. The mean age and BMI of the respondents was 39.8±13 years and 26.4±6.5 kg/m2 respectively. Males (70.3%) were found more affected. Around 39.3% had various comorbidities. About 88.5% of the respondents suffered from various symptoms, including fever, fatigue, anosmia and aguesia, body pain, headache, dry cough, etc. for minimum 1 to 5 days. The respondents were treated with antibiotics (72.4%), antiparasitic (47.9%), antivirals (15.9%) etc. A mean of 19.7±7.6 days was required for respondents to become RT-PCR negative. Various symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, depression, uneasiness, body pain, dry cough, etc., persisted in 76.3% of the respondents. For most, becoming symptom-free took longer than RT-PCR negativity. Similar study should be conducted to see the changing status of COVID-19.