Antar, M.; Ullerich, H.; Zaruchas, A.; Meier, T.; Diller, R.; Pannewick, U.; Dhayat, S.A. Long-Term Quality of Life after COVID-19 Infection: Cross-Sectional Study of Health Care Workers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 235.
Antar, M.; Ullerich, H.; Zaruchas, A.; Meier, T.; Diller, R.; Pannewick, U.; Dhayat, S.A. Long-Term Quality of Life after COVID-19 Infection: Cross-Sectional Study of Health Care Workers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 235.
Antar, M.; Ullerich, H.; Zaruchas, A.; Meier, T.; Diller, R.; Pannewick, U.; Dhayat, S.A. Long-Term Quality of Life after COVID-19 Infection: Cross-Sectional Study of Health Care Workers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 235.
Antar, M.; Ullerich, H.; Zaruchas, A.; Meier, T.; Diller, R.; Pannewick, U.; Dhayat, S.A. Long-Term Quality of Life after COVID-19 Infection: Cross-Sectional Study of Health Care Workers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 235.
Abstract
Abstract: (1) Background: Post-COVID syndrome is defined as symptoms that occur simultane-ously with or after COVID-19 infection, last for 12 weeks, and are not due to another diagnosis. Limited data are available on people’s long-term quality of life (QoL) following COVID-19 infection. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate long-term QoL after COVID-19 among employees of the St. Josef Hospital in Paderborn, Germany, and to identify risk factors. (2) Methods: A monocentric, cross-sectional study was conducted using the validated and digitized WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire via Netigate® between 10/2022 and 02/2023. Data on QoL and global health status were collected in the following four domains: physical health, mental health, social relationships, and environment. (3) Results: The response rate was 73.84% (923/1250). Furthermore, 63.45% of hospital staff respondents reported at least one persistent symptom after COVID-19 infection, leading to significant differences in QoL. Pre-existing conditions, persistent symptoms, and disability after COVID-19 infection, as well as high BMI, no partnership, and low educational level were found to significantly contribute to long-term low QoL. (4) Conclusions: Obesity, lack of partnership, and a low level of education were independent risk factors for lower QoL post-COVID-19 infection in this cohort of hospital staff. Further multicenter studies are re-quired to validate the incidence and their suitability as independent risk factors for post-COVID syndrome.
Keywords
Long-term quality of life (QoL); COVID-19 pandemic; health care workers; post-COVID syndrome; WHOQOL-BREF
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Nursing
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
