Table 1.
Quality of life outcomes in COVID-19 survivors.
| Author | Study design | Country | Sample size (N) Male/Female |
Age (years) Mean (SD) |
Follow-up period month/or daysM ean (SD) |
Hospitalization period (days) Mean (SD) |
Measurement tools | Results (Mean, SD), Prevalence of outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qi et al. [12] | Retrospective cohort Study | China | 80 48/32 |
64.88 (16.98) | 1 and 3 months after hospital discharge | 15 (4.5) | SGRQ | SGRQ | Mean (SD) | |||
| At 1 month | 51.74 (9.56) | |||||||||||
| At 3 months | 46.36 (9.52) * | |||||||||||
| Daher et al. [15] | Case series | Germany | 33 22/11 |
64 (3) | 56 (48–71) days after hospital discharge | 15 (1.8) | EQ-5D-5L, SRGQ |
Median [IQR] EQ-5D-5L at follow-up Mobility (walking) 2 [1–3] Self-care 1 [1–1] Usual activities 2 [1–3] Pain/Discomfort 2 [1–3] Anxiety/Depression 2 [1–2] EQ VAS 63 [53–80] Slight to moderate problems in all domains of EQ-5D-5L Median [IQR] SRGQ Symptoms score 34 [9–57] Activity score 54 [19–78] Impacts score 12 [2−33] Total score 26 [7–42] Mainly reduced activity domain score in SRGQ |
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| Arnold et al. [16] | Prospective cohort study | England | 110 68/42 |
59.64 (20.28) | 88.94 (12.77) days after symptom onset |
5 (4.5) | SF-36 | Severity of COVID-19 | ||||
| Mild (n=27) |
Moderate (n=65) |
Severe (n=18) |
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| Mean (SD) | ||||||||||||
| MCS | 45 (11) | 46 (11) | 40 (17) | |||||||||
| PCS | 41 (12) | 41 (12) | 36 (7) | |||||||||
| Health-related quality of life scores were lower in patients with more severe COVID-19. | ||||||||||||
| Arab-Zozani et al. [17] | Cross-sectional study | Iran | 409 247/162 |
58.4 (18.21) | 21.6 (14.8) days after hospital discharge | 8 (7) | EQ-5D-5L | EQ-5D-5L 0.6125 (SD 0.006) | ||||
| No problem | Slight | Moderate | Severe | Unable | ||||||||
| Mobility | ||||||||||||
| 53.34% | 24% | 12% | 12% | 0% | ||||||||
| Self-care | ||||||||||||
| 87.75% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||||||
| Usual activity | ||||||||||||
| 58.97% | 41% | 8% | 2% | 1% | ||||||||
| Pain/Discomfort | ||||||||||||
| 57.97% | 11% | 22% | 6% | 0% | ||||||||
| Anxiety/Depression | ||||||||||||
| 41.26% | 21% | 20% | 10% | 4% | ||||||||
| Santus et al. [18] | Cohort study | Italy | 20 17/3 |
55 (15) | 15 days after hospital discharge | 17.7 (11.5) | SGRQ | At follow-up Mean (SD) Total score 16.9 (13.2) Symptoms 16.7 (12.9) Activity limitation 28.3 (23.3) Social and emotional impact 10.6 (10.7) |
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| Garrigues et al. [19] | Cohort study | France | 120 75/45 |
63.2 (15.7) | 110.9 (11.1) days after admission | 11.2 (13.4) | Health related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L) |
EQ-5D index 0.86 (0.20) EQ-VAS% 70.3 (21.5) |
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| Carfi et al. [20] | Retrospective cohort study | Italy | 143 90/53 |
56.5 (14.6) | 60.3 (13.6) days after symptom onset | 13.5 (9.7) | EQ-5D VAS | Worse QoL: 63/143 (44.1%) | ||||
| Halpin et al. [21] | Cross-sectional study | England | 48 (10.3) days after hospital discharge | ICU patients: 12.71 (4.65) Ward patients: 8.26 (7.57) |
EQ-5D-5L | Worse EQ-5D ICU patients 22/32 (68.8%) Ward patients 30/68 (45.6%) Percent of worse individuals |
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| ICU (n=32) | Ward (n=68) | |||||||||||
| Mobility | 16 (50%) | 21 (30.9%) | ||||||||||
| Self-care | 4 (12.5%) | 12 (17.6%) | ||||||||||
| Usual activities | 19 (29.4%) | 25 (36.8%) | ||||||||||
| Pain/Discomfort | 9 (28.1%) | 10 (14.7%) | ||||||||||
| Anxiety/Depression | 12 (37.5%) | 11 (16.2%) | ||||||||||
| Goertz et al. [22] | Retrospective cohort study | Netherlands, Belgium | 2113 310/1803 |
46.64 (11.12) | 79 (17) days after symptom onset |
N/A | Self-reported health status (Good, Moderate, Poor) | During follow-up ↑Poor health status 28.6% ↑Moderate health status 64.2% ↓Good health status 7.2% |
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| Cody et al. [28] |
Case series study | England, Wales, Northern Ireland | 45 37/8 |
55 (11.2) | 6–8 weeks after hospital discharge | 24.54 (18.37) | Quality of life outcomes: (EQ-5D) |
Moderate to severe problems with each domain (n = 31): Mobility 14 (45.2%) Self-care 9 (29.0%) Usual activities 19 (61.3%) Anxiety/Depression 11 (35.5%) Pain/Discomfort 16 (51.6%) |
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| Chen et al. [29] | Cross-sectional study | China | 361 186/175 |
47.22 (13.03) |
1 month after hospital discharge | 19.13 (7.60) | SF-36 | Low PCS (15.5%) Low MCS (48.5%) COVID-19 patients vs. Chinese population norm ↓ Physical function ↓Social functioning † ↓ Physical role scores † ↑ Bodily pain † ↑ Vitality † ↑ Mental health † ↑ General health † |
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| Mendez et al. [33] | Prospective cohort study | Spain | 179 105/74 |
57.7 (13.45) | 2 months after hospital discharge | 13.05 (6.72) | SF-12 | Poor QoL (40%) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | ||||||||||||
| PCS | 42.5 (11.2) | |||||||||||
| MCS | 45.5 (11.5) | |||||||||||
| Temperoni et al. [34] | Retrospective cohort study | Italy | 104 56/48 |
41.1 (7.4) | 1 month after hospital discharge | N/A | SF-36 | (N = 64/104) Mean (SD) PCS 49.87 (24.25) MCS 55.54 (23.22) Physical functioning 74.3 (25.48) Social functioning 45.12 (29.52) Physical role 30.47 (42.13) Emotional role 46.87 (45.50) Bodily pain 54.34 (30.39) Vitality 48.44 (23.20) Mental health 59.06 (20.35) General health 63.06 (17.91) The lowest scores (<50) were observed in physical role, vitality, social functioning and emotional role domains. No significant differences between outpatient (n = 49) and inpatient (n = 15) groups |
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| De Lorenzo et al. [36] | Retrospective and prospective cohort study |
Italy | 185 123/62 |
57.35 (14.19) | 24.05 (6.72) days after hospital discharge |
10.2 (6.72) | WHOQOL-BREF | Median [IQR] Total QoL score 99 [90–107.2] Physical health/Level of independence 16 [IQR 13.7–17.1] Psychological 14.7 [13.3–16.7] Social relations 16 [14.7–17.3] Environment 15 [13.5–17] Patients discharged from hospital, compared to hospitalized patients, had lower quality of life, especially in the psychological domain (P = 0.0084). |
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ICU: intensive care unit, EQ-5D: EuroQol 5-dimensional, EQ-5D-5L: EuroQol 5-dimensional 5-levels, WHOQOL-BREF: World Health Organization Quality of Life, SF-12: Short Form Health Survey 12-item, PCS: Physical component score, MCS: Mental component score, HRQoL: health-related quality of life, SF-36: Short Form Health Survey 36-item, VAS: visual analog scale, SGRQ: St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire, N/A: Not available, * Significantly different from the previous value. † Significantly different between patients vs. population norm.