Document Type
Article
Department
Medical College Pakistan; Medicine; Pulmonary and Critical Care
Abstract
Background: There remains scarcity of literature regarding the patient's health status post-COVID-19 infection. This study analyzes the prevalence of residual symptoms and quality of life (QoL) after COVID-19.
Methods: An anonymous online survey was administrated in Pakistan from November 2020 to April 2021 in COVID-19 survivors. The questionnaire used the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) to assess mental and physical QoL. Multivariate linear regression was used to explore factors associated with mental and physical QoL scores.
Results: A total of 331 COVID-19 survivors participated in our survey. Around 42.0% of the cohort reported within 1-3 months of diagnosis of COVID-19. The common residual symptoms were body aches (39.9%), low mood (32.6%), and cough (30.2%). Better physical QoL was associated with being male (adjusted beta: 3.328) and having no residual symptoms (6.955). However, suffering from nausea/vomiting during initial COVID-19 infection (-4.026), being admitted to the ICU during COVID-19 infection (-9.164), and suffering from residual body aches (-5.209) and low mood (-2.959) was associated with poorer QoL. Better mental QoL was associated with being asymptomatic during initial COVID-19 infection (6.149) and post-COVID (6.685), while experiencing low mood post-COVID was associated with poorer mental QoL (-8.253 [-10.914, -5.592]).
Conclusion: Despite presumed "recovery" from COVID-19, patients still face a wide range of residual symptoms months after initial infection, which contributes towards poorer QoL. Healthcare professionals must remain alert to the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 infection and aim to address them appropriately to improve patients' QoL.
Publication (Name of Journal)
Annals of Medicine and Surgery
Recommended Citation
Qamar, M. A.,
Martins, R. S.,
Dhillon, R. A.,
Tharwani, A.,
Irfan, O.,
Suriya, Q. F.,
Rizwan, W.,
Khan, J. A.,
Zubairi, A. S.
(2022). Residual symptoms and the quality of life in individuals recovered from COVID-19 infection: A survey from Pakistan. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 75.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_mc/268
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Critical Care Commons, Emergency Medicine Commons, Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons, Patient Safety Commons, Viruses Commons
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