https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19...ths-regain-baseline-well-being-study-suggests
Many COVID patients needed 9 months to regain baseline well-being, study suggests
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Today at 3:42 p.m.
COVID-19
It took many US COVID-19 survivors who sought treatment for their infection up to 9 months post-infection to return to their baseline sense of mental well-being, while 1 in 5 still had suboptimal quality of life at 1 year, the INSPIRE (Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry) Group reported yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
For the prospective, multicenter registry study, the US investigators used Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-29 and PROMIS SF-8a questionnaire responses to compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among 1,096 adult COVID-19 survivors and 371 uninfected controls enrolled from December 2020 through August 2022 and followed every 3 months for 1 year.
Participants (68.5% women) answered questions on physical function, anxiety, depression, fatigue, social participation, sleep problems, pain interference, and cognitive function.
Physical well-being restored first
COVID-positive participants reported compromised mental well-being for up to 9 months after infection. Physical well-being returned after 3 months, but up to 20% of patients continued experiencing suboptimal overall HRQoL 1 year post-infection.
Four distinct well-being classes emerged at all study timepoints: optimal overall, poor mental, poor physical, and poor overall HRQoL. COVID-19 patients were more likely to return to the optimal HRQoL class than COVID-negative respondents. Notably, participants in the poor physical HRQoL and poor overall HRQoL classes had much more severe acute COVID-19 symptoms, higher rates of underlying conditions, and more symptoms at baseline.
Among those in the poor overall HRQoL category, 42.4% reported that they had long COVID at final follow-up, versus 24.2% among those in the poor physical HRQoL class, 17.8% in the poor mental HRQoL class, and 9.7% in the optimal class.
The odds of moving from poor to optimal overall well-being was comparable between COVID-positive and COVID-negative groups and remained low over time (range, 1.4% to 5.2%). The most substantial shift from poor physical to optimal HRQoL occurred by 3 months, while a transition from poor mental to optimal HRQoL occurred by 9 months.
Improved models of care needed
"In this large, geographically diverse study of individuals with 12 months of follow-up after COVID-19-like illness, a substantial proportion of participants continued to report poor HRQoL, whether or not the inciting acute symptoms were due to SARS-CoV-2 or another illness," the researchers wrote.
The findings showed that health care professionals need to pay more attention to their patients’ mental well-being after a COVID-19 infection and provide more resources that will help improve their mental health, in addition to their physical health.
Lauren Wisk, PhD
The results suggest that the long-term effects of other, non-COVID infections on one’s well-being may have been underestimated, the authors said.
"The findings showed that health care professionals need to pay more attention to their patients' mental well-being after a COVID-19 infection and provide more resources that will help improve their mental health, in addition to their physical health," lead author Lauren Wisk, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles, said in a university press release.
"Future research should focus on how to improve the treatment models of care for patients who continue to experience COVID-19 symptoms and their impact on patients’ quality of life," she added.
Many COVID patients needed 9 months to regain baseline well-being, study suggests
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Today at 3:42 p.m.
COVID-19
It took many US COVID-19 survivors who sought treatment for their infection up to 9 months post-infection to return to their baseline sense of mental well-being, while 1 in 5 still had suboptimal quality of life at 1 year, the INSPIRE (Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry) Group reported yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
For the prospective, multicenter registry study, the US investigators used Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-29 and PROMIS SF-8a questionnaire responses to compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among 1,096 adult COVID-19 survivors and 371 uninfected controls enrolled from December 2020 through August 2022 and followed every 3 months for 1 year.
Participants (68.5% women) answered questions on physical function, anxiety, depression, fatigue, social participation, sleep problems, pain interference, and cognitive function.
Physical well-being restored first
COVID-positive participants reported compromised mental well-being for up to 9 months after infection. Physical well-being returned after 3 months, but up to 20% of patients continued experiencing suboptimal overall HRQoL 1 year post-infection.
Four distinct well-being classes emerged at all study timepoints: optimal overall, poor mental, poor physical, and poor overall HRQoL. COVID-19 patients were more likely to return to the optimal HRQoL class than COVID-negative respondents. Notably, participants in the poor physical HRQoL and poor overall HRQoL classes had much more severe acute COVID-19 symptoms, higher rates of underlying conditions, and more symptoms at baseline.
Among those in the poor overall HRQoL category, 42.4% reported that they had long COVID at final follow-up, versus 24.2% among those in the poor physical HRQoL class, 17.8% in the poor mental HRQoL class, and 9.7% in the optimal class.
The odds of moving from poor to optimal overall well-being was comparable between COVID-positive and COVID-negative groups and remained low over time (range, 1.4% to 5.2%). The most substantial shift from poor physical to optimal HRQoL occurred by 3 months, while a transition from poor mental to optimal HRQoL occurred by 9 months.
Improved models of care needed
"In this large, geographically diverse study of individuals with 12 months of follow-up after COVID-19-like illness, a substantial proportion of participants continued to report poor HRQoL, whether or not the inciting acute symptoms were due to SARS-CoV-2 or another illness," the researchers wrote.
The findings showed that health care professionals need to pay more attention to their patients’ mental well-being after a COVID-19 infection and provide more resources that will help improve their mental health, in addition to their physical health.
Lauren Wisk, PhD
The results suggest that the long-term effects of other, non-COVID infections on one’s well-being may have been underestimated, the authors said.
"The findings showed that health care professionals need to pay more attention to their patients' mental well-being after a COVID-19 infection and provide more resources that will help improve their mental health, in addition to their physical health," lead author Lauren Wisk, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles, said in a university press release.
"Future research should focus on how to improve the treatment models of care for patients who continue to experience COVID-19 symptoms and their impact on patients’ quality of life," she added.