Although respiratory presentations of COVID-19 predominate, the extra pulmonary involvement such as muscle pain, joint pain, headache, back pain, abdominal pain, and sore throat are usually included in the clinical picture of the disease and it can be considered as an early symptom in COVID-19 patients. The objective of the present study was to determine the frequency, localization, and intensity of pain in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Imam Khomeini hospital of Ardabil, Iran.
A prospective study was conducted on 388 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to Ardabil, Iran's Imam Khomeini Central Hospital between March and June 2020. Demographic characteristics of patients and general clinical manifestations of pain at the first admission to the hospital, localization, severity, and continuity of pain were evaluated by using a questionnaire and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).
For the 388 (51.3% female, age 47.25 + 15.55 and 48.7% male, age 50.12 + 15.26 years old) Delta COVID-19 patients, the median duration from illness onset to hospitalization was 5 days. Patients' complaints included 89.7% fatigue, 85.56% cough, 67.8% fever, 64.17% loss of taste, 63.91% loss of smell, 37.9% diarrhea, and 11.85% skin lesions, respectively. Pain including muscle, joint, bone and low back pain was the chief complaint in both sexes. Pain complaints had started on average 5 days before admission. The distribution of pain was 313 (80.41%) muscle pain, 264 (70.61%) joint pain, 299 (77.1%) headache, 208 (53.6%) low back pain, 312 (80.41%) sore throat, and 157 (40.46%) abdominal pain. Out of 388 patients, 292 (75.25%) had diffuse pain.
Acute pain including myalgia, sore throat, arthralgia, headache, and low back pain were the most common symptoms of COVID-19 patients. Viral diseases such as COVID-19 may trigger the immune system to release cytokines that lead to muscle pain. Patients presenting to healthcare centers with complaints of pain should be evaluated for suspected COVID-19 infection.