One Year Follow-Up of COVID-19 Related Symptoms and Patient Quality of Life: A Prospective Cohort Study

PURPOSE: Globally, concerns have grown regarding the long-term effects of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection. Therefore, we evaluated the long-term course of persistent symptoms and patient quality of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted at a single tertiary university hospital from August 31, 2020 to March 29, 2021 with adult patients followed at 6 and 12 months after acute COVID-19 symptom onset or diagnosis. Clinical characteristics, self-reported symptoms, EuroQol 5 dimension 5 level (EQ5D-5L) index scores, Korean version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Korean version of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-5 (PCL-5-K), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were investigated. Symptom persistent or non-persistent groups were defined according to persistency of COVID-19 related symptoms or signs after acute COVID-19 infection, respectively. RESULTS: Of all 235 patients, 170 (64.6%) patients were eligible for analysis. The median age was 51 (interquartile range, 37–61) years old, and 102 patients were female (60.0%). After 12 months from acute COVID-19 infection, in total, 83 (48.8%) patients still suffered from COVID-19-related symptoms. The most common symptoms included amnesia (24.1%), insomnia (14.7%), fatigue (13.5%), and anxiety (12.9%). Among the five EQ5D-5L categories, the average value of anxiety or depression was the most predominant. PHQ-9 and PCL-5-K scores were statistically higher in the COVID-19–related symptom persistent group than the non-persistent group (p=0.001). However, GAD-7 scores showed no statistical differences between the two groups (p=0.051). CONCLUSION: Neuropsychiatric symptoms were the major COVID-19–related symptoms after 12 months from acute COVID-19 infection, reducing quality of life.