Long-term recovery in critically ill COVID-19 survivors: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background: Long-term recovery following critical COVID-19 has not been sufficiently studied. Objective: The primary objective was to describe changes in functional outcome and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) between 3 and 12 months in critically ill COVID-19 survivors. The secondary objective was to investigate factors associated with good functional outcome and HRQoL at 12 months. Methods: Prospective multicentre cohort study including critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to six intensive care units in Sweden between May 2020 and May 2021. Surviving patients were invited to face-to-face follow-ups at 3 and 12 months. Functional outcome was assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE), ranging from 1 to 8. Physical and mental HRQoL was assessed by the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores of the Short form health survey version 2 (SF-36v2®). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with good functional outcome (GOSE ≥7) and good physical and mental HRQoL (PCS and MCS ≥45) at 12 months. Results: The percentage of participants with a good functional outcome increased from 35% to 64% between 3 and 12 months (p