Sintomas persistentes e qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em indivíduos hospitalizados por covid-19

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has caused many sequelae in survivors, but the way in which they interfere with activities of daily living and quality of life of affected people still remains under investigation. Objective: To evaluate epidemiological and clinical data, as well as persistent signs/symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals who required hospitalization due to COVID-19. Methods: This is an observational, quantitative study, with a cross-sectional epidemiological design, which included individuals aged 18 years or older and residents in the city of Passo Fundo (RS), who required hospitalization due to complications from COVID-19 from September 2021 to August 2022. Contact with those eligible was carried out based on the list of notified and confirmed cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) provided by the Municipal Health Department. For data collection, a home visit was carried out within 12 months after hospitalization, to apply a standardized questionnaire, including epidemiological and clinical data, initial and persistent signs/symptoms, in addition to the EuroQol-5D5L questionnaire (EQ-5D5L) to assess HRQoL. Data are presented by the absolute and relative frequencies of the variables, and the relationship between them was evaluated by the X2 test or Fisher's Exact test, with a significance level of 5%. Results: During the study period, 160 individuals eligible for the study were interviewed. It was observed that the majority of individuals were women, white, over 60 years old, with elementary school education, who do not work or who are retired. Regarding the observed signs/symptoms during hospitalization, more than 70% had cough, dyspnea and fatigue, while loss of smell/taste eas reported by 45.6% and chest pain by 36.9%, and such signs/symptoms persisted significantly in 80.6%, 57.5%, 48.8%, 32.7% and 20.9%, respectively (p<0.001). Regarding the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, it was observed that the most affected domains were mobility (70.4%), pain/discomfort (67.3%) and anxiety/depression (61.6%). The presence of three or more of the five main persistent signs/symptoms (fatigue/tiredness, malaise after exertion, pain in the joints and bones, shortness of breath and loss/lapses of recent memory), is related to the lower of quality of life related to health (p<0.001). Conclusion: Individuals hospitalized with SARS due to COVID-19 are predominantly female, elderly and with low education, and who have persistent signs/symptoms for up to 12 months after hospital discharge, and the presence of three to five of the signs/symptoms of fatigue/tiredness, post-exertion malaise, recent memory loss or lapses, joint and bone pain, shortness of breath reflects the impact of COVID-19 on lower HRQoL, and should be considered by monitoring and rehabilitation programs for affected individuals to minimize the sequelae of the disease.