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. 2023 Aug;366(2):114-123.
doi: 10.1016/j.amjms.2023.04.018. Epub 2023 Apr 28.

Post-COVID health-related quality of life and somatic symptoms: A national survey in Japan

Kazuhiro Kamata  1 , Hitoshi Honda  2 , Yasuharu Tokuda  3 , Akane Takamatsu  4 , Kiyosu Taniguchi  5 , Kenji Shibuya  6 , Takahiro Tabuchi  7
Affiliations

Post-COVID health-related quality of life and somatic symptoms: A national survey in Japan

Kazuhiro Kamata et al. Am J Med Sci. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Background: The characteristics and risk factors of post-COVID-19 condition affecting health-related quality of life and the symptom burden are unclear.

Methods: The present, cross-sectional study used the JASTIS (Japan Society and New Tobacco Internet Survey) database. EQ-5D-5L and Somatic Symptom Scale-8 were used to assess health-related quality of life and somatic symptoms, respectively. The participants were classified into a no-COVID-19, COVID-19 not requiring oxygen therapy or COVID-19 requiring oxygen therapy group. First, the entire cohort was analyzed. Then, sensitivity analysis was performed after excluding patients in the no-COVID-19 group with a history of close contact with individuals known to have the disease.

Findings: In total, 30130 individuals (mean age: 47.8; females: 51.2%), including 539 and 805 with COVID-19 requiring and not requiring oxygen therapy, respectively, participated. The analysis of the entire cohort as well as the sensitivity analysis demonstrated that individuals with a history of COVID-19 had significantly lower EQ-5D-5L and significantly higher SSS-8 scores than those with no COVID-19 history. The group requiring oxygen therapy was associated with significantly lower EQ-5D-5L and higher SSS-8 scores than the group not requiring oxygen therapy. Propensity-score matching confirmed these results. Furthermore, two or more COVID-19 vaccinations were independently associated with high EQ-5D-5L and low SSS-8 scores (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: The participants with a COVID-19 history, especially those with severe disease, had a significantly higher somatic symptom burden. Analysis after adjusting for potential confounders found that their quality-of-life was also severely affected. Vaccination is crucial to addressing these symptoms, especially in high-risk patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health-related quality of life; Long COVID; SARS-CoV-2; Somatic symptoms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration Competing of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this study.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Percentage of respondents in each dimension of SSS-8 and EQ5D5L by COVID-19 (N = 30,130). Abbreviations: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; SSS-8, Somatic Symptom Scale 8; EQ5D5L, EuroQol 5-dimensions 5-levels.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Percentage of respondents in each dimension of SSS-8 and EQ5D5L by immunization status (N = 30,130). Abbreviations: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; SSS-8, Somatic Symptom Scale 8; EQ5D5L, EuroQol 5-dimensions 5-levels.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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