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. 2024 May 3;21(5):591.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph21050591.

Enhancing EQ-5D-5L Sensitivity in Capturing the Most Common Symptoms in Post-COVID-19 Patients: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study with a Focus on Fatigue, Memory/Concentration Problems and Dyspnea Dimensions

Helena Janols  1 , Carl Wadsten  2 , Christoffer Forssell  3   4 , Elena Raffeti  4 , Christer Janson  5 , Xingwu Zhou  2   5   6 , Marta A Kisiel  7
Affiliations

Enhancing EQ-5D-5L Sensitivity in Capturing the Most Common Symptoms in Post-COVID-19 Patients: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study with a Focus on Fatigue, Memory/Concentration Problems and Dyspnea Dimensions

Helena Janols et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether the EQ-5D-5L tool captures the most common persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, memory/concentration problems and dyspnea, in patients with post-COVID-19 conditions while also investigating if adding these symptoms improves the explained variance of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In this exploratory cross-sectional study, two cohorts of Swedish patients (n = 177) with a history of COVID-19 infection answered a questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics and clinical factors, and their HRQoL was assessed using EQ-5D-5L with the Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS). Spearman rank correlation and multiple regression analyses were employed to investigate the extent to which the most common persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, memory/concentration problems and dyspnea, were explained by the EQ-5D-5L. The explanatory power of EQ-5D-5L for EQ-VAS was also analyzed, both with and without including symptom(s). We found that the EQ-5D-5L dimensions partly captured fatigue and memory/concentration problems but performed poorly in regard to capturing dyspnea. Specifically, the EQ-5D-5L explained 55% of the variance in memory/concentration problems, 47% in regard to fatigue and only 14% in regard to dyspnea. Adding fatigue to the EQ-5D-5L increased the explained variance of the EQ-VAS by 5.7%, while adding memory/concentration problems and dyspnea had a comparatively smaller impact on the explained variance. Our study highlights the EQ-5D-5L's strength in capturing fatigue and memory/concentration problems in post-COVID-19 patients. However, it also underscores the challenges in assessing dyspnea in this group. Fatigue emerged as a notably influential symptom, significantly enhancing the EQ-5D-5L's predictive ability for these patients' EQ-VAS scores.

Keywords: COVID-19; EQ-5D-5L; EQ-VAS; dyspnea; fatigue; memory/concentration problems.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flow chart of the response rate.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of study patients on EQ-5D-5L dimensions for different severity levels of fatigue, memory and concentration problems, as well as dyspnea.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of study patients on EQ-5D-5L dimensions for different severity levels of fatigue, memory and concentration problems, as well as dyspnea.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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