Respiratory muscle dysfunction and associated risk factors following covid-19-related hospitalisation

Verduri, Alessia, Tonelli, Roberto, Donatelli, Pierluigi, Hewitt, Jonathan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7924-1792, Guaraldi, Giovanni, Milić, Jovana, Ruggieri, Valentina, Mussini, Cristina, Clini, Enrico and Beghè, Bianca 2025. Respiratory muscle dysfunction and associated risk factors following covid-19-related hospitalisation. Life 15 (2) , 194. 10.3390/life15020194

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Abstract

Background: Studies have highlighted long-term respiratory muscle dysfunction in COVID-19 survivors, although the underlying risk factors remain unclear. This single-centre study assessed respiratory muscle function and individual associated factors at follow-up in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 and related acute respiratory failure. Methods: Data were collected for consecutive patients, aged ≥ 18 years, at the post-COVID outpatient service of Hospital Policlinico in Modena (Italy) in the time frame of 3 to 6 months after discharge. Data were analysed using single and multiple logistic regression models. Correlations among MIP/MEP, hand-grip values, and lung function were further explored. Results: Out of 223 patients (mean age 67 years, 69% male) 121 (54.3%) exhibited MIP or MEP dysfunction, which was found to be associated with the use of non-invasive ventilation (aOR = 1.91 [1.07–3.49], p = 0.04) and female gender (aOR = 1.76 [1.09–4.16], p = 0.03) as independent risk factors. A positive correlation was observed between MIP dysfunction and hand-grip strength (p = 0.03 and 0.01), whereas both MIP and MEP were significantly associated with FEV1, FVC, TLC, and DLCO. Conclusions: Respiratory muscle dysfunction is consistently prevalent and parallels peripheral muscle weakness and the lung function level in patients at follow-up after severe COVID-19. The need for non-invasive ventilation during the acute phase and female gender might represent risk factors. MIP/MEP assessment should be recommended to observe respiratory muscle dysfunction in severe post-COVID survivors.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Start Date: 2025-01-28
Publisher:	MDPI
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	6 February 2025
Date of Acceptance:	26 January 2025
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2025 11:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176005

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