Quality of Life and Persistence of Symptoms in Outpatients after Recovery from COVID-19

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 can have persistent symptoms after acute illness, which affects their quality of life (QoL). Research and data about this topic in Latin American ambulatory patients are scarce. Materials and Methods: We conducted an observational, prospective, transversal, and analytical study. To measure QoL, we used a validated Spanish version of the MOS/RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Results: We included 206 outpatients in the study. A total of 73.3% patients had persistence of one or more symptoms. The most frequent persistent symptoms were fatigue (36.9%), anxiety (26.2%), and headache (24.8%). No statistically significant difference in the SF-36 QoL scores and the frequency of persistent COVID-19 symptoms was found when comparing the ≤5 and >5 months groups, except for myalgia, which was less frequently observed in the >5 months group after COVID-19 (26.2% vs. 14.1%, p < 0.038). Female gender was associated with an increased risk of persistence of symptoms (OR = 2.95, 95% CI 1.56–5.57). Having comorbidities/sequelae attributed to COVID-19 and persistence of COVID-19 symptoms were associated risk factors for poor physical component summary (PCS); on the other hand, female gender, anxiety, and depression were associated with poor mental component summary (MCS). Conclusion: Most outpatients had persistent COVID-19 symptoms after infection. Persistence of symptoms was associated with poor MCS and PCS. It is important to follow-up not only patients discharged from the hospital after SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also those under ambulatory management to provide them with rehabilitation and psychological therapy to improve their QoL.

Quality of life at work and fatigue after hospitalization due to COVID‐19

“…21 No statistically significant differences were found in Q oL scores and frequency of persistent post-COVID symptoms in a cohort of Mexican patients before and after five months since onset of infection, except for myalgia, which was observed less frequently with longer follow-ups. 22 Our study revealed that COVID-19 increased the risk of QoL impairment at work more than three times, both in acute phase of infection and also within more than 12 weeks of its onset. However, a prospective study of 92 people discharged from a third-level Greek hospital found that within 4 months, QoL improved significantly, accompanied by a drop in fatigue prevalence from 81.5 to 27.2%.…”

“…Similarly, in a study from post‐COVID clinic in Texas, fatigue and worse self‐reported sleep quality were reported by most patients two months after infection, that was, in 88% and 51% of cases, respectively 21 . No statistically significant differences were found in QoL scores and frequency of persistent post‐COVID symptoms in a cohort of Mexican patients before and after five months since onset of infection, except for myalgia, which was observed less frequently with longer follow‐ups 22 . Our study revealed that COVID‐19 increased the risk of QoL impairment at work more than three times, both in acute phase of infection and also within more than 12 weeks of its onset.…”

Đánh Giá Chất Lượng Cuộc Sống Sau Mắc Covid-19 Đối Với Cán Bộ Thuộc Ban Thường Vụ Tỉnh Ủy Tỉnh Thái Bình

“…Sự khác biệt giữa hai nhóm này có ý nghĩa thống kê. Trong nghiên cứu của Lizeth Guadalupe Gutiérrez-Canales và cộng sự năm 2020, khi so sánh điểm SF-36 giữa hai nhóm (có triệu chứng so với không có triệu chứng), điểm bị ảnh hưởng nhiều nhất là HC (điểm trung bình là 50 ở cả hai nhóm), tiếp theo là lĩnh vực Sức sống (điểm trung bình là 50; IQR, 45-70, cho cả hai nhóm); tuy nhiên, không có cải thiện theo thời gian được quan sát và không có sự khác biệt có ý nghĩa thống kê giữa hai nhóm nghiên cứu [5]. Xét mối tương quan giữa nhóm có triệu chứng và không có triệu chứng về sức khoẻ thể chất, nhóm nghiên cứu nhận thấy nhóm không triệu chứng có xu hướng cao điểm hơn (49,7±7,9) so với nhóm có triệu chứng (47,8±9,1).…”

Persistence of COVID-19 Symptoms and Quality of Life at Three and Twelve Months after Hospital Discharge

“…In association with the recognition of the effects of the long-COVID, we consider that evaluation of the quality of life (QoL) is important to visualize the patients’ statuses in relation to long-COVID effects. We previously evaluated the relationship between persistent long-COVID symptoms and QoL three months after hospital discharge, observing that patients with persistent symptoms had lower QoL (SF-36) scores than patients without symptoms [ 6 ]. Qu et al also observed in their study that the presence of persistent COVID-19 symptoms was associated with poor QoL, specifically poor physical component summary (PCS), at three months after discharge [ 7 ].…”