Abstract
Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a considerable impact on the global healthcare system. Individuals who have recovered from COVID often experience chronic respiratory symptoms that affect their daily lives. This study aimed to assess respiratory dynamics such as airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and bronchodilator response in post-COVID patients.
Methods This study included 282 adults with respiratory symptoms who underwent provocation tests. The demographic details, clinical symptoms, and medical histories were recorded. Baseline spirometry, methacholine challenge tests (MCT), and post-bronchodilator spirometry were performed. Patients were divided into the following four groups: Group 1: non-COVID-19 and negative MCT; Group 2: post-COVID-19 and negative MCT; Group 3: non-COVID-19 and positive MCT; and Group 4: post-COVID-19 and positive MCT.
Results Most post-COVID-19 patients (43.7%) experienced AHR, and wheezing was more common. Patients in Group 4 exhibited increased intensities of dyspnea, cough, and wheezing with the lowest pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters at baseline. Moreover, significant decreases in PFT parameters after the MCT were observed in these patients. Although the prevalence of a low forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity ratio (FEV1/FVC) (<70%) was initially 2% in Group 4, it increased to 29% after MCT. No significant differences in allergic history or underlying diseases were observed between the groups.
Conclusions These findings provide comprehensive insights into the AHR and respiratory symptoms of post-COVID-19 individuals, highlighting the characteristics and potential exacerbations in patients with positive MCT results. This emphasizes the need of MCT to address respiratory dynamics in post-COVID-19 individuals.
Footnotes
This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.
Conflict of interest: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to declare.
This is a PDF-only article. Please click on the PDF link above to read it.
- Received February 15, 2024.
- Accepted May 1, 2024.
- Copyright ©The authors 2024.
This version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence 4.0.
