The effect and safety of small-molecule antiviral drugs on long prognosis of post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis: a real-world study in China

Background Post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (PCPF) is one of the most common diagnoses after COVID-19 acute infection. However, the interventions for long-term prognosis of PCPF are relatively lacking. Aim We aimed to observe one-year readmission and mortality rates among patients with PCPF, and tried to explore the impact of small-molecule antiviral drugs (SMADs) during hospitalization on the prognosis. Method A total of 372 patients diagnosed as PCPF were enrolled. 293 of them treated with SMADs and the remaining 79 treated with NO SMADs. One-year readmission and mortality rates were evaluated via regression analysis. Results During hospitalization, 16 of the 372 patients died. An additional 19 survivors died within one-year postdischarge. Among survivors, 49.62% were readmitted. Compared to the NO-SMAD group, the SMAD group presented a lower one-year readmission rate (45.97%vs. 63.64%, p = 0.020) and a reduced risk of one-year readmission (HR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.44 to 0.96, p = 0.030). Conclusion Nearly half of PCPF patients experienced readmission within one-year following their initial hospitalization for acute COVID-19. Importantly, treatment with SMADs during the acute infection phase was significantly associated with a reduced readmission rate.