Understanding COVID-19 is crucial, as despite the announcement of the disease as a pandemic almost three years ago, the number of cases reported by the WHO continues to increase (3). Although young adults are susceptible to COVID-19 complications, the majority of related research has investigated geriatric health. As stated by a recent study, the insufficiency of SARS-CoV2 neutralization in young adults leads to subsequent infections (14). In particular, in health professions, students since they need to attend clinical rotations in the hospital (15). There is a lack of research measuring the difficulties that young adults may experience after being exposed to COVID-19 globally, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Hence, this study shed light on young adults’ health regarding the prevalence and characteristics of post-COVID-19 manifestations and investigated the associations between post-COVID-19 symptoms with depression and severity. additionally, the prevalence of other comorbidities was determined among health profession students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences on the three campuses.
This study revealed evidence that young adults can also suffer from post-COVID-19 syndrome. In line with the study findings, 16.8% of the patient were included in the prolonged group, and approximately two thirds of those in this group continued to experience at least two symptoms. the persistent group accounted for 6.8%, and three quarters of the patients had at least two symptoms after the COVID-19 incubation period. A longitudinal study included 201 participants who supposedly recovered from COVID-19. A total of 98% of them still suffered
from four months after COVID-19 onset. These symptoms included fatigue, myalgias, headache, and cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Moreover, in 70% of the sample, impairment in one or more organs, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and spleen, was identified using multiorgan magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Fewer patients in this sample had a prior medical history, and only 18% needed to be admitted to the hospital during the acute phase of the disease (20). However, it remains unknown whether some or all individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome will eventually return to their pre-COVID-19 level of health and functioning.
The majority of the participants who experienced persistent symptoms were females, while males accounted for only 17% of the participants, similar to the findings of previous studies (2, 21). Correspondingly, a previous study revealed that there was a sex difference in post-COVID-19 sequelae. Compared with males, female experienced more severe post-COVID-19 symptoms. The scientific justification behind this phenomenon is that females have low levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, and males have more long-lasting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their saliva over time than females (21).
Moreover, this study revealed that the prolonged and the persistent groups showed a highly significant association between the following symptoms: loss of smell, shortness of breath, and loss of taste. A recent study suggested that 51% of the students who recovered from COVID-19 continued to suffer from persistent symptoms, including headache and shortness of breath (2). Like in our study, a single-center questionnaire conducted on 1007 participants who recovered from COVID-19 reported that loss of smell, loss of taste, and shortness of breath were persistent even after COVID-19 acute illness (17). A similar pattern of reported symptoms indicates a threatening health situation. Additionally, the overall severity of post-COVID-19 symptoms was described as a mild illness, although some participants had to seek healthcare advice regarding their protracted symptoms. However, in a similar study, the majority of participants described post-COVID-19 symptoms as moderate illness (2).
Furthermore, many studies have measured the depression levels among students during The COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the depression scale score was strongly significantly associated with the scores of the recovered participants, the prolonged participants, and the persistent participants. Moreover, there are several participants who experienced severe levels of depression, in which they answered “Yes” to the question of (Thought that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself). Our results align with these of earlier study showing that the persistent group had the most severe level of depression (2). Several studies have emphasized the association between poor academic performance and depression among students. Also, a study specified that low academic function and a drop in GPA are related to mental health problems and emotional problems (23). Moreover, neither smoking cigarettes nor vaping devices demonstrate an association similar to the findings of a previous study (2).
To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of research investigating post-COVID-19 syndrome in the young adults in Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, the importance of this study is to focus specifically on young adults' physical and mental health after being infected with COVID-19. Moreover, it measures the prevalence of the post-COVID-19 symptoms, severity and depression. Furthermore, the population of this study included students from three different campuses. One of the limitations is that most of the participants were infected with COVID-19 a few months before the survey was distributed, so there is a chance that they might forget some of the symptoms that they had while answering the survey. In addition, the data duration of data collection was longer than expected since several people did not respond.
We recommend that the medical and scientific communities closely monitor the persistent symptoms of young adults who are infected with COVID-19 and follow up with their illness. Besides considering young adults to be vulnerable to post-COVID-19 syndrome. In addition, to shed the light on their mental health after the disease, how it impacts their lives and their education which is an essential aspect, especially in this part of their life. Additionally, we encourage further research regarding the long-term effect of COVID-19 on other age groups, including younger age group participants.