Assessing the impact of COVID-19 at 1-year using the SF-12 questionnaire: Data from the Anticipate longitudinal cohort study

Brendan O'Kelly,Louise Vidal,Gordana Avramovic,John Broughan,Stephen Peter Connolly,Aoife G Cotter,Walter Cullen,Shannon Glaspy,Tina Mchugh,James Woo,John S Lambert

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2022.03.013

Abstract

BackgroundFew studies to date have explored the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with long COVID. MethodsThe Anticipate Study is a prospective single-centre observational cohort study. Hospitalised and nonhospitalised patients were seen at a dedicated post-COVID clinic at a 2-4 month (Timepoint 1) and 7-14 month follow-up (Timepoint 2). The main objectives of this study are to assess the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 in patients using the 12-item Short Form Survey (SF-12) score, a health-related quality of life tool, and to identify predictors of developing post–COVID-19 syndrome (PoCS). In addition, we aimed to describe symptomatology and identify predictors of PoCS at 1-year. ResultsA total of 155 patients were enrolled, 105 (68%) were female aged 43.3 (31-52) years. In total 149 (96%) and 94 (61%) patients completed follow-up at median 96 (76-118) days and 364 (303-398) days. The overall cohort had significantly reduced physical composite score (PCS) of the SF-12 (45.39 [10.58] vs 50 [10], p = 0.02). Participants with PoCS had significantly lower scores than those without symptoms at 1-year follow-up (37.2 [10.4] v 46.1 [10.9] p <0.001), and scores for these patients did not improve over the 2 Timepoints (PCS 34.95 [10.5] – 37.2 [10.4], p = 0.22). Fatigue was the most common symptom. Those with 5 or more symptoms at initial diagnosis had lower PCS and mental composite score (MCS) at 1-year. Predictors of PoCS at 1-year were lower PCS and higher baseline heart rate (HR) at clinic review median 3 months after COVID-19. ConclusionPatients with PoCS have lower PCS scores during follow-up, which did not significantly improve up to a 1-year follow-up. Lower PCS scores and higher HR at rest can be used in the weeks after COVID-19 can help predict those at risk of PoCS at 1 year.

Highlights

To date (February 2022), over 388 million infections with COVID-19 have been reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) (WHO, 2022)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organisation) have all released definitions that generally describe the persistence of symptoms after acute COVID-19; ‘Post–COVID-19 Syndrome’ (PoCS), ‘Post–COVID conditions’ and ‘Post–COVID-19 condition’ (CDC, 2021, NICE, 2020, WHO, 2021)
A total of 155 participants were included in the Anticipate Study, 105 (68%) of whom were female with a median age of 43.3 (IQR 31-52) years and 150 (96.8%) of whom were proven SARSCoV2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive

Summary

Introduction

To date (February 2022), over 388 million infections with COVID-19 have been reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) (WHO, 2022). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organisation) have all released definitions that generally describe the persistence of symptoms after acute COVID-19; ‘Post–COVID-19 Syndrome’ (PoCS), ‘Post–COVID conditions’ and ‘Post–COVID-19 condition’ (CDC, 2021, NICE, 2020, WHO, 2021). All of these definitions can come under the umbrella term of long COVID, Table 1. Participants with PoCS had significantly lower scores than those without symptoms at 1-year follow-up (37.2 [10.4] v 46.1 [10.9] p

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