QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 HOSPITALIZATION AND REHABILITATION NEEDS

INTRODUCTION: During the current pandemic, there has been a paucity of Greek data in terms of recording the general long-term functional status of patients after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations, as well as very little information regarding rehabilitation services nationwide and their utilization. OBJECTIVE-DESIGN: This is a prospective cohort study, including 92 adults discharged from the Infectious Disease Unit of a third-level hospital in Greece after hospitalization with COVID-19. Demographics and disease severity data was collected upon admission and symptoms at discharge, 4 months and 1 year. Following rating of 12 common symptoms on a Likert scale, quality-of-life data and accessibility to rehabilitation services were compared among the 3 time points. RESULTS: At discharge, the most prevalent complaints were fatigue, exertional dyspnoea and difficulty walking. At 4 months, these 3 remained among the most prevalent symptoms, while pain and memory/loss concentration remained at high numbers as well. Finally, at the 1-year mark, the percentages of patients reporting fatigue, exertional dyspnoea and pain were the highest. At the 4-month follow-up, only 4.3% of the study participants had visited a rehabilitation facility of any kind, whereas at the 1-year mark the percentage rose to 10.9%. CONCLUSION: A clinically relevant number of participants experienced at least one post-COVID-19 hospitalization symptom. Quality of life was markedly affected by the longer-term effects of the disease. The percentage of people finally attending any kind of rehabilitation service was poor. With thousands more being infected and needing hospitalization nationwide daily, the need for the inclusion of relevant rehabilitation programmes in the Greek healthcare system appears imminent. LAY ABSTRACT For this research paper, we studied 92 adults discharged from the Infectious Disease Unit of a third-level hospital after hospitalization with COVID-19, examining their quality of life and accessibility to rehabilitation services among 3 time points: discharge, 4 months and 1 year afterwards. At discharge, the most prevalent complaints were fatigue, exertional dyspnoea and difficulty walking. At 4 months, these 3 remained among the most prevalent symptoms, while pain and memory/loss concentration remained at high numbers as well. Finally, at the 1-year mark, the percentages of patients reporting fatigue, exertional dyspnoea and pain were the highest. Quality of life was markedly affected by the longer-term effects of the disease. The percentage of people finally attending any kind of rehabilitation service was poor. Without a doubt, the need for inclusion of rehabilitation programmes in the healthcare systems is imminent in order to face the continued pandemic challenge.