Does mild COVID-19 in healthcare workers affect functional capacity and work performance in short term?

Abstract

Background: Disproportionately increased workload is one of the main reasons affecting work performance. Healthcare workers who got infected by COVID-19 were further affected mentally and physically which had an impact on their work performance. Objective: In this study, we aimed to show whether work performance is affected even in people with mild Covid 19 disease or whether it is a part of Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome (PACS). Methods: Thirty healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital had COVID-19 one month ago and gender and age matched 30 healthy workers without a history of COVID-19 (control group) was enrolled between January 2021 and March 2021. Work performance was assessed on a 7-point Likert scale. Participants performed 1-min sit-to-stand test (1MSTS), 5 times sit-to-stand test (5TSTS), and 6-min walk test (6MWT). Results: All participants in the COVID-19 group had a mild (non-hospitalized) form of the disease. 23 patients had ongoing symptoms 4–7 weeks after the initial symptoms of COVID-19 (fatigue/malaise (n = 9), myalgia/arthralgia (n = 7), cough (n = 7), loss of smell/taste (n = 5), headache (n = 5), dyspnea (n = 4), and diarrhea (n = 1). The increase in systolic blood pressure after 6MWT was higher in the COVID group (p = 0.018). Conclusion: The functional status and work performance in healthcare workers with COVID-19 infection were negatively affected in the first month even if the disease severity was mild. It is important to prevent both acute and long-term physical and mental complications of the disease and to ensure that these strategies improve the functional status and work performance of healthcare professionals. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.