Assessment of Post-COVID-19 Quality of Life Using the Quality of Life Index

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has impacted many aspects of peoples’ quality of life (QOL). AIM: To assess the QOL of post-COVID-19 cases and determine their associated sociodemographic attributes. METHODS: A cross-sectional community-based study targeted recovered COVID-19 cases using an online questionnaire. An Arabic version of the Quality of Life Index (QLI) was evaluated for reliability and validity using Cronbach’s alpha and Spearman’s product moment tests, respectively. Descriptive analysis, Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis H, and Spearman correlation tests were used to investigate the relationships between QOL and study independent variables, including sociodemographic characteristics, time since infection, intention for vaccination, perception of the influence of COVID-19 on general health, history of hospitalization, and history of chronic illness. Subgroups were compared using a Student’s t-test for normally distributed data and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test or the Kruskal–Wallis test for non-normally distributed data. RESULTS: In a sample of 449 respondents, the total QLI score was 22.64 ± 4.36; for subscales, it ranged from 20.86 ± 5.04 to 24.99 ± 4.74. Males had significantly higher health and functioning subscale (HFSUB) scores compared to females (p = 0.033). Employed cases had significantly higher social and economic subscale (SOCSUB) scores than unemployed cases (p = 0.000). Married people reported significantly higher family subscale (FAMSUB) scores (p = 0.000) than unmarried people. People who believe that their general health was affected by COVID-19 had significantly lower HFSUB and psychological and spiritual subscale (PSPSUB) scores (p = 0.000 and p = 0.021, respectively). Individuals with a history of hospital admissions scored lower on PSPSUB (p = 0.000). Age was significantly associated with both SOCSUB (p = 0.006) and FAMSUB (p = 0.040). CONCLUSION: Sociodemographic attributes of people with a history of COVID-19 revealed significant differences in some QOL domains, as measured by the Arabic version of the generic QLI. History of hospitalization and beliefs about COVID-19’s impact on general health negatively influenced individual’s HFSUB and PSPSUB.