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. 2024 Jan 11;12(1):21.
doi: 10.3390/diseases12010021.

Assessing the Quality of Life, Coping Strategies, Anxiety and Depression Levels in Patients with Long-COVID-19 Syndrome: A Six-Month Follow-Up Study

Adrian Vasile Bota  1   2 , Felix Bratosin  1   2   3 , Iulia Bogdan  1   2   3 , Susa Septimiu-Radu  1   2   3 , Adrian Cosmin Ilie  4 , Sonia-Roxana Burtic  2   5 , David Vladut Razvan  1   2 , Raluca Tudor  6 , Mirela Florica Indries  7 , Andrei Nicolae Csep  7 , Ariadna Petronela Fildan  8 , Camelia Melania Budea  1 , Iosif Marincu  1
Affiliations

Assessing the Quality of Life, Coping Strategies, Anxiety and Depression Levels in Patients with Long-COVID-19 Syndrome: A Six-Month Follow-Up Study

Adrian Vasile Bota et al. Diseases. .

Abstract

This longitudinal study investigates the psychosocial effects of long-COVID Syndrome, a domain still not extensively researched. It specifically evaluates the quality of life, coping mechanisms, anxiety and depression levels in COVID-19 survivors, differentiating between those with and without long-COVID Syndrome. Conducted at the Victor Babes Hospital for Infectious Diseases and Pulmonology in Timisoara, Romania, the study utilized a cohort of patients diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19. The following standardized tools: WHOQOL-BREF for quality of life, COPE-60 for coping strategies, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), were employed for the assessment. The sample consisted of 86 patients displaying persistent post-acute symptoms and 432 asymptomatic patients at the 6-month post-discharge mark. Patients with frequent post-acute symptoms reported significantly higher levels of fatigue (8.2 ± 1.4), cognitive difficulties (7.5 ± 1.6), and respiratory challenges (7.8 ± 1.3), along with a markedly lower overall quality of life (7.0 ± 1.5) compared to their asymptomatic counterparts. HADS scores revealed elevated depression (6.8 ± 1.9) and anxiety (7.1 ± 2.3) in the symptomatic group. Quality of life, as evaluated through the use of WHOQOL-BREF, showed lower scores in the symptomatic cohort across physical (58.8 ± 15.8), mental (56.3 ± 16.4), and social domains (50.2 ± 17.5). COPE-60 findings indicated a higher prevalence of disengagement (56.4%) and emotion-focused coping strategies (61.8%) in the symptomatic group, in contrast to 30.1% and 37.0%, respectively, in the asymptomatic group. The study highlights that long-COVID Syndrome significantly deteriorates the quality of life and is associated with increased depression and anxiety levels. The prevalent use of disengagement and emotion-focused coping strategies among patients with persistent symptoms suggests a need for enhanced psychosocial support tailored to this subgroup.

Keywords: COVID-19; long COVID; post-acute COVID.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

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Figure 1
Study flowchart.
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