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. 2021 Oct;65(9):1285-1292.
doi: 10.1111/aas.13939. Epub 2021 Jun 25.

Long-term consequences in critically ill COVID-19 patients: A prospective cohort study

Anna Schandl  1   2   3 , Anders Hedman  2   4 , Patrik Lyngå  2   4 , Sozan Fathi Tachinabad  5 , Jessica Svefors  5 , Mari Roël  5 , Anne Geborek  5 , Mikael Andersson Franko  2 , Mårten Söderberg  2   5 , Eva Joelsson-Alm  1   2 , Pernilla Darlington  2   5
Affiliations

Long-term consequences in critically ill COVID-19 patients: A prospective cohort study

Anna Schandl et al. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 can cause severe disease with need of treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) for several weeks. Increased knowledge is needed about the long-term consequences.

Methods: This is a single-center prospective follow-up study of COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU for respiratory organ support between March and July 2020. Patients with invasive ventilation were compared with those with high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) or non-invasive ventilation (NIV) regarding functional outcome and health-related qualify of life. The mean follow-up time was 5 months after ICU discharge and included clinical history, three well-validated questionnaires about health-related quality of life and psychological health, pulmonary function test, 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and work ability. Data were analyzed with multivariable general linear and logistic regression models with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: Among 248 ICU patients, 200 patients survived. Of these, 113 patients came for follow-up. Seventy patients (62%) had received invasive ventilation. Most patients reported impaired health-related quality of life. Approximately one-third suffered from post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression. Twenty-six percent had reduced total lung capacity, 34% had reduced 6MWT and 50% worked fulltime. The outcomes were similar regardless of ventilatory support, but invasive ventilation was associated with more bodily pain (MSD -19, 95% CI: -32 to -5) and <80% total lung capacity (OR 4.1, 95% CI: 1.3-16.5).

Conclusion: Among survivors of COVID-19 who required respiratory organ support, outcomes 5 months after discharge from ICU were largely similar among those requiring invasive compared to non-invasive ventilation.

Keywords: COVID-19; intensive care unit; long-term effects.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flowchart of study inclusion
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Health‐related quality of life for ICU survivors with COVID‐19 with invasive ventilator treatment, high‐flow nasal oxygen (HFNO)/non‐invasive ventilator (NIV) treatment and for an age‐specific normative population
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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