Health-Related Quality of Life of Moroccan COVID-19 Survivors: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background: Research on COVID-19 has mostly focused on transmission, mortality and morbidity associated with the virus. However, less attention has been given to its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the demographic and clinical risk factors associated with COVID-19 and evaluate its impact on the HRQoL of COVID-19 survivors. Methods: A case-control study was carried out between September 2021 and March 2022 on 1105 participants. A total of 354 were COVID-19 survivors and 751 were the control group. The HRQoL was assessed using both EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D generic instruments. Results: The average age of all participants was 56.17 ± 15.46. Older age, urban area, tobacco use, presence of chronic diseases especially type 1 diabetes, kidney and cardiovascular diseases were significantly associated with COVID-19. The COVID-19 survivors had significantly lower HRQoL (EQ-VAS = 50.89) compared to the control group (EQ-VAS = 63.36) (p-value < 0.0001). Pain/ discomfort and anxiety/depression were the most negatively affected by COVID-19 (p-value < 0.0001). Conclusions: The findings from this study could help healthcare professionals and policy makers to better understand the HRQoL sequelae among the COVID-19 survivors and contribute to develop tailored interventions.