The aims of this project are: 1) to estimate the degree of physical disability, including
psychological sequelae, in survivors of COVID-19 >1-year post hospital discharge and how
these long term effect are related to COVID-19 or Sars-Cov-2 infection; 2) to assess if a
link between the severity or the treatment of the disease in its acute phase and the severity
of the long-lasting symptoms exists.
Aims will be accomplished by using data from the COVID-19 RISK and Treatments (CORIST)
Project (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04318418). The CORIST study included N=4,396 patients
hospitalized for SARS-Cov-2 infection in 35 hospitals across Italy, between February 2020 and
May 2020. Within each participating hospital, clinical data were abstracted from electronic
medical records. Collected data included patients' demographics, laboratory tests,
medications in use, history of disease and prescribed pharmacological therapy for COVID-19
treatment. Information on the most severe manifestation of COVID-19 occurred during
hospitalization was also captured.
All survivor patients previously recruited in the CORIST study (N=3,648), will be reached by
phone by the hospital in which they were healed for COVID-19, informed about the research
objectives and procedure and, if they will accept to participate, they will ask to sign an
institutional review board consent electronic form. Participants will be requested to return
a series of web-based, validated questionnaires aimed at evaluating: 1) occurrence of
COVID-19-related symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, etc.; 2) behavioural features and
modifications (e.g., disturbances in sleep, vision, hearing or olfaction); 3)
neuropsychological evaluation, regarding multiple cognitive domains (e.g. memory domain,
motivational factors, emotional state assessment, mood disturbance and quality of life); 4)
change in dietary habits.
Aim 1 Each participant ("case") will be asked to select two control subjects with the
following characteristics: control1) same sex, ±5 years, who had a positive diagnosis for
SARS-Cov-2 infection in the past (at least 6±2 months) and that was never hospitalised for
COVID-19 as he/she had not severe symptoms and control2) same sex, ±5 years, who was never
diagnosed for SARS-Cov-2 infection. Each accepting control will be asked to return similar
(appropriately modified) questionnaires as cases. Comparisons of cases with control1
individuals will offer evidence of long-term effects due to severity of COVID-19, whereas
contrasts of cases or control1 with control2 persons will give indication of long-term
effects due to SARS-Cov-2 infection, irrespective from COVID-19.
Aim 2 We expect that a large proportion of case patients has undergone a medical visit in the
months after recovering by COVID-19, in the same hospital in which they were healed. For
these patients, all available medical information (data on fibrosis, dyspnoea, thoracic pain,
respiratory, cardiac, neurological and psychiatric diseases) gathered at follow-up visit will
be collected. This bulk of information, together with that attained from questionnaires as
described in aim 1 will be related to data (already available to us) from CORIST project and
will allow test if a link between the severity or the management in hospital of the disease
in its acute phase and the severity of the long-lasting symptoms exists.