The impact of long COVID on the quality of life of patients living in the frontline city during hostilities

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life (QoL) of patients with long COVID living in the frontline city Kharkiv during hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Materials and Methods: Three groups of patients were formed using the «case-control» design. Group 1 - patients with long COVID living in Kharkiv (n = 18). Group 2 - patients who recovered from COVID and live in Kharkiv (n = 36). Group 3 - internally displaced persons (IDPs), n = 36. Pairs were matched based on criteria such as age, gender, comorbid conditions, and concomitant medication. The WHOQOL-bref questionnaire in Ukrainian was used to assess QoL. Results: QoL in Group 1 was 2,5 ± 0,73 compared to 3,1 ± 0.94 in Group 2 (p = 0,021) and 2,2 ± 0,69 in Group 3 (p 1-3 = 0,145, p 2-3 < 0,0001). The health status (HS) was the worst in Group 1 – 2,2 ± 0,71 vs 3,4 ± 0,99 in Group 2 (p 1-2 < 0,0001) and 2,8 ± 0,83 in Group 3 (p 1-3 = 0,011, p 2-3 = 0,068). Physical health was also worst in Group 1 – 34,42 ± 1,.60 vs 56,48 ± 18,31 in Group 2 (p < 0.000...) and in Group 3 – 46,28 ± 16,73 (p 1-3 = 0,01, p 2-3 = 0,02). Psychological domain did not differ significantly between Groups 1 and 2 – 51,29 ± 17,38 vs 69,27 ± 22,86 (p = 0.65), but was lower in Group 3 – 39,72 ± 13,71 (p 1-3 = 0,01, p 2-3 < 0,0001). Social relationships were rated lower by patients in Group 3 – 49,51 ± 15,44 compared to patients in Group 1 – 59,12 ± 17,89 (p = 0,046) and Group 2 – 63,19 ± 21,35 (p = 0,0027). Environment domain was lowest in Group 3 – 52,09 ± 16.32, although it did not differ significantly fro Group 1 – 57,63 ± 18,21 (p = 0,65), unlike Group 2 – 69,27 ± 22,86 (p = 0,0005). Conclusions: Patients with long COVID had a lower QoL compared to recovered patients, which was comparable to that of IDPs. Health status in these patients was the worst compared to both recovered patients and IDPs. Physical health was worst in the group of patients with long COVID, while psychological domain was poorest in the IDPs group, which also had the lowest social relationship domain. Environmental domain was equally low in both groups of patients with long COVID and IDPs.