Post-COVID-19 Ongoing Symptoms and Health-Related Quality of Life: Does Rehabilitation Matter?: Preliminary Evidence

Abstract

Objective: Individuals with persisting symptoms after coronavirus disease 2019 have reported a decrease in health-related quality of life. This study explores the outcome of 50 subjects with post-coronavirus disease 2019 ongoing symptoms including "long COVID"(symptoms lasting over 3 mos), after a rehabilitation program focused on three symptoms: fatigue, breathlessness, and pain. The aims were as follows: to assess the feasibility of the program, to observe a possible change in symptoms and quality of life (null hypothesis: no differences in variables before and after treatment), and to investigate a possible relationship between symptoms and quality of life.

Design: This is a retrospective observational study.

Results: Symptoms intensity measured with numeric rating scale decreased. Mean differences are as follows: breathlessness, -2.91; fatigue, -2.05; and pain, -2.41 ( P > 0.001). Quality of life measured with Euroqol-5D improved. Mean differences are as follows: Euroqol-5D index, 0.104, and Euroqol-5D visual analog scale, 19.21 ( P < 0.001). Effect size of these changings is classifiable as large (Cohen d > 0.8 and <1.3) except for Euroqol-5D index (Cohen d = -0.575), resulting medium (>0.5 and <0.8). Correlation (Pearson r ) between symptoms and Euroqol-5D resulted moderate for pain and fatigue (-0.609 and -0.531, P < 0.001) and low for breathlessness (-0.533, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Rehabilitation can be feasible and may improve symptoms and quality of life. Further research is needed.