TY - JOUR
T1 - Health-related quality of life of adult post COVID-19 condition patients three years after infection and patient characteristics associated with change over time
T2 - a longitudinal analysis from the CORFU study
AU - Suazo Guevara, Marcela M.
AU - Waardenburg, Sophie F.
AU - Klein, Dorthe O.
AU - Bonsel, Gouke J.
AU - Birnie, Erwin
AU - Wintjens, Marieke S. J. N.
AU - van Bussel, Bas C. T.
AU - van Santen, Susanne
AU - Ghossein-Doha, Chahinda
AU - Warle, Michiel C.
AU - Jacobs, Lotte M. C.
AU - Hemmen, Bena
AU - Kietselaer, Bas L. J. H.
AU - Jansen, Gwyneth
AU - Heemskerk, Stella C. M.
AU - Haagsma, Juanita A.
AU - van Kuijk, Sander M. J.
PY - 2025/11
Y1 - 2025/11
N2 - PurposePost COVID-19 Condition (PCC) negatively impacts Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and can persist for years after initial infection. This study examined long term HRQoL of COVID-19 survivors with PCC to explore whether and how HRQoL changes over time, and to determine which patient characteristics are associated with changes.MethodsCOVID-19 survivors from the Dutch CORona Follow-Up (CORFU) study were prospectively followed for up to 3 years post-infection using self-report questionnaires. PCC was defined on presence of symptoms reported at the 2-year time point. Within-person change in EQ-5D-5L utility and EQ VAS scores were analyzed from the 2-year to the 3-year time point. Changes were described using summary statistics, and associations with patient characteristics were analyzed using multivariable linear regressions.ResultsAmong 158 participants that met PCC definition 2-years after infection, mean utility and EQ VAS change score was 0.01 (95%CI - 0.02,0.04), and 0.9 (95%CI - 1.6,3.4), respectively. Based on EQ utility change scores, 30% experienced a decrease, 32% an increase, and 37% no change. Similar distributions were observed for EQ VAS. Female sex was associated with decreasing utility scores. Increasing utility scores were associated with female sex of older age when compared to younger ones, and with people that initially reported social participation problems..ConclusionIndividual changes in HRQoL within a year vary widely in the PCC population. Our findings suggest that certain subgroups of individuals with PCC are more vulnerable to prolonged declines in HRQoL.
AB - PurposePost COVID-19 Condition (PCC) negatively impacts Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and can persist for years after initial infection. This study examined long term HRQoL of COVID-19 survivors with PCC to explore whether and how HRQoL changes over time, and to determine which patient characteristics are associated with changes.MethodsCOVID-19 survivors from the Dutch CORona Follow-Up (CORFU) study were prospectively followed for up to 3 years post-infection using self-report questionnaires. PCC was defined on presence of symptoms reported at the 2-year time point. Within-person change in EQ-5D-5L utility and EQ VAS scores were analyzed from the 2-year to the 3-year time point. Changes were described using summary statistics, and associations with patient characteristics were analyzed using multivariable linear regressions.ResultsAmong 158 participants that met PCC definition 2-years after infection, mean utility and EQ VAS change score was 0.01 (95%CI - 0.02,0.04), and 0.9 (95%CI - 1.6,3.4), respectively. Based on EQ utility change scores, 30% experienced a decrease, 32% an increase, and 37% no change. Similar distributions were observed for EQ VAS. Female sex was associated with decreasing utility scores. Increasing utility scores were associated with female sex of older age when compared to younger ones, and with people that initially reported social participation problems..ConclusionIndividual changes in HRQoL within a year vary widely in the PCC population. Our findings suggest that certain subgroups of individuals with PCC are more vulnerable to prolonged declines in HRQoL.
KW - HRQoL
KW - Post COVID-19 condition
KW - Changes in quality of life
KW - COVID-19
KW - EQ-5D-5L
KW - RISK
KW - DISABILITY
U2 - 10.1007/s11136-025-04090-y
DO - 10.1007/s11136-025-04090-y
M3 - Article
SN - 0962-9343
VL - 34
SP - 3305
EP - 3317
JO - Quality of Life Research
JF - Quality of Life Research
IS - 11
ER -