Health-related quality of life of adult COVID-19 patients following one-month illness experience since diagnosis: findings of a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh
Authors: Islam Md. Ziaul , Riaz Baizid Khoorshid , Efa Syeda Sumaiya , Farjana Sharmin , Mahmood Fahad 
Published: February 2021

Background

The pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stances an incredible impact on the quality of life of the patients. The disease not only denigrates the physical health of the patients but also affects their mental health. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients.

Methods

The study was conducted at the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from June to November 2020. The study enrolled 1204 adult (>18 years) COVID-19 patients diagnosed by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay and completed the one-month duration of illness. The patients were interviewed with the CDC HRQOL-14 questionnaire to assess their HRQOL. Data were collected by telephone-interview and reviewing medical records using a semi-structured questionnaire and checklist respectively. Informed consent was obtained from each patient before data collection.

Results

The majority of the COVID-19 patients were males (72.3%), urban residents (50.2%), and diverse service holders (49.6%). More than one-third (35.5%) of patients had comorbidity including hypertension (55.6%), diabetes mellitus (55.6%), ischaemic heart disease (16.4%), chronic lung (12.4%), kidney (2.8%), and liver (4.2%) diseases. The mean±SD duration of physical illness was 9.83(±7.09) days, and it was 7.97(±8.12) days for mental illness. During the one-month disease course, the general health condition was excellent/very good/good in 70.1% of the patients while it was fair/poor in 29.8% of the patients. Older age, sex, and marital status were significantly associated with at least one dimension of HRQOL. Patients having symptoms of COVID-19 and comorbidity had significantly poorer HRQOL.

Conclusion

COVID-19 pretenses a significant impact on the HRQOL of the patients including physical and mental illness during the clinical course. Our findings suggest more pragmatic preventive, promotive, and curative measures considering illness experiences of the COVID-19 patients to restore their quality of life.

Highlights

Since COVID-19 was identified first in china in 2019, it has been transmitted globally and caused a significant impact on human health. A few studies have been carried out on HRQOL of COVID-19 patients and struggled with an accurate estimation of the severity of their physical and mental illness. Most of the studies recognized the poor quality of life of COVID-19 patients after the one-month disease course. Our study provides new insights on the HRQOL of the COVID-19 patients using the CDC HRQOL-14 questionnaire. We measured the HRQOL following one-month illness experience of the patients using three modules: the healthy days’ core; the activity limitations; and the healthy days’ symptoms. The study adds information regarding general health conditions including both the physical and mental health of COVID-19 patients. The study also complements information regarding the activity limitations of the patients. The study findings could contribute to designing an efficient clinical algorithm to alleviate the illness sufferings of the COVID-19 patients using a more pragmatic approach. The study conserves decisive policy implications to concoct effective interventions for improving the HRQOL of COVID-19 patients in the country and elsewhere in other countries world-wide.