Abstract
Background: Many studies have shown a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in COVID-19 patients and the general population. However, very few studies directly examined the potential impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and none compared HRQoL in COVID-19 patients to the general population amid the pandemic.Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study comparing HRQoL (as measured using the RAND Short Form 36 or SF-36 Health Survey) in randomly selected individuals from three different groups: hospitalized COVID-19 patients, quarantined COVID-19 patients, and controls from the general population in Qatar. We constructed a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) to compare the SF-36 scores between the three groups and control for various covariates.Results: Our sample consisted of 141 COVID-19 inpatients, 99 COVID-19 quarantined patients, and 285 healthy controls. Surprisingly, we found that HRQoL was higher in COVID-19 hospitalized than in COVID-19 non-hospitalized patients than in controls. The main components where COVID-patients scored higher than controls were physical functioning and role limitations due to emotional problems. In COVID-19 patients, the female gender, older age, and past psychiatric history were associated with lower HRQoL.Conclusions: It seems that COVID-19 patient's HRQoL might be better than expected. Our results can be explained by social support from family and friends, easy access to mental health screening and care, and a possible change of perspectives after recovery from COVID-19, resulting in psychological growth and enhanced resilience.
Highlights
Amidst the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, more reports showed an increase in the prevalence of depressive, stress, and anxiety symptoms in the general population
This study aimed to address some of the shortcomings of the previous studies by (i) directly examining the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) amid the pandemic rather than assuming that depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms translate into poorer HRQoL; (ii) comparing the HRQoL in COVID-19 patients to a sample from the general population group; (iii) comparing two different groups of COVID-19 patients
Our sample consisted of 141 inpatients, 99 quarantined individuals with COVID-19, and 285 controls (Table 1)
Summary
Amidst the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, more reports showed an increase in the prevalence of depressive, stress, and anxiety symptoms in the general population. 7.0 to 36.4% of patients endorsed symptoms suggestive of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 40.0 to 69.0% reported persistent fatigue 2 to 3 months after discharge, with a significant impact on their activities of daily living and quality of life [3]. All of these symptoms can affect individual’s physical and psychosocial well-being. Very few studies directly examined the potential impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and none compared HRQoL in COVID-19 patients to the general population amid the pandemic
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