Musculoskeletal and neurological pain symptoms among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

OBJECTIVE: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to grow, its clinical manifestations are still emerging and are being widely investigated. However, the pain symptoms, including neurological and musculoskeletal (MSK) pain symptoms, are still poorly understood. DESIGN: In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the prevalence of MSK and neurological pain symptoms among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Further, the association of clinical and demographic factors with the prevalence of pain symptoms was also investigated. RESULT: We included 182 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with a mean age of 48.86 ± 13.98 years. Pain symptoms were reported by 61.54% (n = 112) patients. Most common symptoms reported were generalized myalgia (n = 60; 32.96%), headache (n = 50; 27.47%) and low back pain (n = 41; 22.53%). Interestingly, neuropathic pain was present in 14 (7.69%) participants. Logistic regression analysis revealed an association of pain symptoms with COVID-19 severity, male gender, higher body mass index (BMI), and a history of addiction. CONCLUSION: Pain symptoms are common manifestation of COVID-19. Generalized myalgia, headache and low back pain are the three most common new-onset pain symptoms in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Further investigation of pain symptoms and their predictive factors are recommended, which may guide health care workers and policymakers to plan in this direction.