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Examining the Trajectory of Health-Related Quality of Life among Coronavirus Disease Patients

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Abstract

Background

Recent studies have reported a reduction in health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) among post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. However, there remains a gap in research examining the heterogeneity and determinants of HR-QoL trajectory in these patients.

Objective

To describe and identify factors explaining the variability in HR-QoL trajectories among a cohort of patients with history of COVID-19.

Design

A prospective study using data from a cohort of COVID-19 patients enrolled into a registry established at a health system in New York City.

Participants

Participants were enrolled from July 2020 to June 2022, and completed a baseline evaluation and two follow-up visits at 6 and 12 months.

Methods

We assessed HR-QoL with the 29-item Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System instrument, which was summarized into mental and physical health domains. We performed latent class growth and multinomial logistic regression to examine trajectories of HR-QoL and identify factors associated with specific trajectories.

Results

The study included 588 individuals with a median age of 52 years, 65% female, 54% White, 18% Black, and 18% Hispanic. We identified five physical health trajectories and four mental health trajectories. Female gender, having pre-existing hypertension, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and hospitalization for acute COVID-19 were independently associated with lower physical health. In addition, patients with increasing body mass index were more likely to experience lower physical health over time. Female gender, younger age, pre-existing asthma, arthritis and cardiovascular disease were associated with poor mental health.

Conclusions

We found significant heterogeneity of HR-QoL after COVID-19, with women and patients with specific comorbidities at increased risk of lower HR-QoL. Implementation of targeted psychological and physical interventions is crucial for enhancing the quality of life of this patient population.

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Funding

The Mount Sinai Registry is supported by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). Liangyuan Hu is supported by award ME-2021C2-23685 from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and by grant R01HL159077 from the National Institutes of Health. This research was made possible in part due to the philanthropic support of Pablo Legorreta.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Pl, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Jia Li MS

  2. Division of General Internal Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Juan P. Wisnivesky MD, DrPH, Jenny J. Lin MD, MPH & Minal S. Kale MD, MPH

  3. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Juan P. Wisnivesky MD, DrPH

  4. Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Kirk N. Campbell MD

  5. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers University School of Public Health, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Liangyuan Hu PhD

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  1. Jia Li MS
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Correspondence to Jia Li MS.

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Conflict of Interest

Juan Wisnivesky received consulting honorarium from Atea, Sanofi, PPD, and Banook and grants from Sanofi, Regeneron, and Axella. The other authors report no conflict of interest.

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Li, J., Wisnivesky, J.P., Lin, J.J. et al. Examining the Trajectory of Health-Related Quality of Life among Coronavirus Disease Patients. J GEN INTERN MED (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08575-9

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