The impact of comorbidity on the quality of life of people who recovered from COVID-19 in Bangladesh

COVID-19 affects the Quality of Life (QoL) in a reverse way after recovery, which might be multiplied by the comorbid non-communicable diseases. This study explored the relationship between comorbidities and QoL of COVID-19 recovered people in Bangladesh. The cross-sectional study was conducted among 3244 participants between June 2020 and November 2020 using a pre-tested questionnaire through over-the-phone interviews. The WHOQOL-BREF was utilized to explore the QoL among the study participants. A multivariable linear regression model was conducted to identify the effects of the number of comorbidities on QoL scores of all four domains. Out of 3244 COVID-19 recovered patients, over one-third (39.4%) had one or more chronic diseases, from hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, bronchial asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, and cancer. Around 46.85% of participants above 40 years presented with 1-2 chronic diseases, and 16.33% had ≥3 chronic diseases. Among all comorbidities, participants with cancer and CKD were found to have relatively lower scores in all four domains than other comorbidities. The lowest QoL scores were observed in the psychological domain. Those with ≥3 simultaneous chronic comorbidities had the lowest QoL score in all four domains: physical, psychological, social relationship, and environmental. COVID-19 recovered persons with comorbidities undergo a lower quality of life. Therefore, special attention is required to these vulnerable groups to ensure their smooth recuperation.