Health-related quality of life of adult post COVID-19 condition patients three years after infection and patient characteristics associated with change over time: a longitudinal analysis from the CORFU study

Purpose Post COVID-19 Condition (PCC) negatively impacts Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and can persist for years after initial infection. This study examined long term HRQoL of COVID-19 survivors with PCC to explore whether and how HRQoL changes over time, and to determine which patient characteristics are associated with changes. Methods COVID-19 survivors from the Dutch CORona Follow-Up (CORFU) study were prospectively followed for up to 3 years post-infection using self-report questionnaires. PCC was defined on presence of symptoms reported at the 2-year time point. Within-person change in EQ-5D-5L utility and EQ VAS scores were analyzed from the 2-year to the 3-year time point. Changes were described using summary statistics, and associations with patient characteristics were analyzed using multivariable linear regressions. Results Among 158 participants that met PCC definition 2-years after infection, mean utility and EQ VAS change score was 0.01 (95%CI − 0.02,0.04), and 0.9 (95%CI − 1.6,3.4), respectively. Based on EQ utility change scores, 30% experienced a decrease, 32% an increase, and 37% no change. Similar distributions were observed for EQ VAS. Female sex was associated with decreasing utility scores. Increasing utility scores were associated with female sex of older age when compared to younger ones, and with people that initially reported social participation problems.. Conclusion Individual changes in HRQoL within a year vary widely in the PCC population. Our findings suggest that certain subgroups of individuals with PCC are more vulnerable to prolonged declines in HRQoL.