Patient-reported Outcome of Mild Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection in Patients diagnosed from a Tertiary Care Center in Kerala: A 1-year Follow-up Study.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus had a huge burden on asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic persons who may have only briefly been associated with healthcare delivery systems during their illness. The knowledge about patient perception of disease outcomes is important in deciding future programs for dealing with pandemics in the community. The objectives of the study were to determine patient-reported outcomes (PROs) 30 days and 1 year after the initial diagnosis of mild COVID-19 infection and to determine any factors associated with PROs. Patients who attended the fever screening clinic and were diagnosed with mild COVID-19 infection were contacted telephonically as they completed 30 days after their initial diagnosis, and their responses to the EuroQoL five-dimensions 5-level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire were recorded. The patients were again contacted 1 year after the initial diagnosis and the same process was repeated. A total of 237 patients were contacted telephonically and 167 patients responded to the call. The domain most affected at 30 days was usual activities, and at 1 year, it was anxiety and depression. The mean utility score at 30 days was 0.9347 and at 1 year was 0.9801. The factors associated with worse utility scores were age >45 years and comorbidities. There is a significant proportion of patients who had restrictions in performing their usual activities 30 days after a mild COVID-19 infection, whereas the domain which showed the least improvement after 1 year was anxiety or depression. Even mild COVID-19 infection had an impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of people with the elderly and those with comorbidities affected more.