Health-Related Quality of Life among COVID-19 Patients Discharged from Ain Shams University Isolation Hospitals, 2021

Abstract Background A significant proportion of individuals, including those who were hospitalized, through the global pandemic of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), experienced residual symptoms following acute COVID-19 infection. Accordingly, it has impacted the patient's Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) resulting in negative effects on one or more domains of their quality of life. Objective To assess the HRQoL of COVID-19 patients discharged from Ain Shams University Isolation Hospitals, 2021. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study including a total of 550 adults discharged from Ain Shams University Isolation Hospitals. Data was collected using a phone-based interview questionnaire including questions about socio-demographic characteristics, clinical information, and Short-form 8 (SF- 8) to assess the 8 domains of HRQoL; general health, physical functioning, Role physical, bodily pain, vitality, social functioning, mental health, and role emotional. Univariate analysis was done to investigate the relationship between the study variables and the total mean score of HRQoL. Results Participants' mean age was 53.71 ± 13.17, and 53.1% of them were females. We found that 63.5% had co-morbidities. The mean of the total days of hospital stay was 12.37 ± 7.22 and about fifth was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) (22.2%). The mean of the total score of the 8 items of SF-8 in discharged patients was 69.96 ± 23.31. The Role physical domain was more affected among the other domains (51.55±40.03). The following variables were significantly associated with lower mean of the total score of HRQoL as: age≥50, female gender, having co-morbidities, length of hospital stay and ICU admission. Conclusion and Recommendation COVID-19 is associated with negative effect on HRQoL of hospitalized COVID-19 patients especially the physical domain. Follow up service after COVID infection is recommended, especially for people with existing comorbid conditions.