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Original article
Available online 23 September 2025
Quality of life and disability 16 months after critical care illness: Comparison between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 survivors
Calidad de vida y discapacidad 16 meses después de enfermedad crítica: comparación entre sobrevivientes de COVID-19 crítica y no-crítica
Liliana Cristina da Silva Ferreira Fontesa,
, Bárbara Peleteirob, Paulo Jorge Ribeiro Costaa, Joana Carolina João Fernandesc, Tatiana Santos Vieiraa, António José Falcão Bragaa, Sónia Patrícia Vilar Martinsd, Ana Rita Leal Ferreirae, Isabel Maria Metelo Coimbraa, Lia Paula Nogueira Sousa Fernandese, José Artur Osório de Carvalho Paivaa,f,g
a Intensive Care Medicine Department, Unidade Local de Saúde São João, Porto, Portugal
b Hospital Epidemiology Center, Unidade Local de Saúde São João, Porto, Portugal
c Intensive Care Medicine Department, Unidade Local de Saúde Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
d CINTESIS@RISE, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
e Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
f Intensive Care Medicine Department, Unidade Local de Saúde São João, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal
g Grupo de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Infeção e Sepsis, Portugal
Received 27 April 2025. Accepted 06 August 2025
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Tables (4)
Table 1. Population characteristics: baseline and hospital and ICMD care.
Tables
Table 2. Health-Related Quality of Life 5 dimensions in the three Groups and comparing Group1 with Group 2 and Group 3 with Group 2 (categorized in “No problems”, “Some Problems”).
Tables
Table 3. Health and Disability domains assessment in the three Groups and comparing Group1 with Group 2 and Group 3 with Group 2 (categorized by 6 domains).
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Table 4. Post-Hospital discharge data, globally and in the three Groups.
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Abstract
Objective

Describe and compare the Quality of Life (QoL) and disability of critical care survivors with COVID-19 and NON-COVID-19 critical illness, admitted during and after the pandemic period. We hypothesize that both COVID-19 disease and the pandemic context have a significant impact on long-term outcomes of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors.

Design

Post-hoc analysis of prospectively collected data.

Setting

Intensive Care Department of Unidade Local de Saúde São João between 1st October 2020 and 31st December 2021.

Participants

Three groups of adult critical care survivors; Group 1: critical COVID-19 patients; Group 2: critical patients with other diagnosis, admitted in the pandemic period; Group 3: critical patients admitted in the post-pandemic period due to non-COVID-19 causes.

Intervention

Telephone consultation 16 months after discharge home, assessing QoL and disability.

Main variables of interest

QoL five dimensions, EuroQol Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) and Health and disability 6 domains.

Results

Of the 185 survivors, Group 1 reported less problems in“Self-care” (OR = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.04−0.55), “Usual activities” (OR = 0.20, 95%CI: 0.08−0.0.52), and “Anxiety/Depression” (OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.14−0.97) dimensions. Health and disability domains assessment showed Group 1 had less difficulties in “Cognition” (OR = 0.37, 95%CI: 0.15−0.91), “Mobility” (OR = 0.25, 95%CI: 0.09−0.68), “Self-care” (OR = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.05−0.40) and “Life activities” (OR = 0.32, 95%CI: 0.13−0.76).

Conclusions

Sixteen months after discharge home, survivors of non-COVID-19 admitted during the pandemic period present worse QoL and functional status than COVID-19 survivors admitted during the same period and greater post-hospital discharge healthcare needs.

Keywords:
Critical care
Follow-up
Quality of life
Disability
COVID-19
Abbreviations:
APACHE
ARDS
COVID
ECMO
EQ-5D-5L
HRQoL
ICMD
ICU
LoS
PICS
SAPS
SARS-CoV-2
SCCM
ULSSJ
WHODAS 2.0
Resumen
Objetivo

Describir y comparar la Calidad de Vida (CdV) y la discapacidad de los supervivientes de enfermedades críticas COVID-19 y no-COVID-19 ingresados en periodo de pandemia y en periodo post pandemia. Nuestra hipótesis es que tanto la COVID-19 como el contexto pandémico tienen un impacto significativo en los resultados a largo plazo de los sobrevivientes de la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI).

Diseño

Análisis post-hoc de datos recogidos prospectivamente.

Ámbito

Servicio de Medicina Intensiva de la ULSSJ entre el 1 de octubre de 2020 y el 31 de diciembre de 2021.

Participantes

Tres grupos de adultos supervivientes de UCI: Grupo 1 - pacientes críticos COVID-19; Grupo 2 - pacientes críticos no-COVID-19, ingresados en periodo de pandemia; Grupo 3 - pacientes críticos no-COVID-19 ingresados en periodo post pandemia.

Intervención

Consulta telefónica 16 meses después del alta a casa, evaluando CdV y discapacidad.

Variables de interés principales

Dimensiones de la CdV; EuroQol escala analógica visual (EQ-VAS) y los dominios de la discapacidad.

Resultados

De los 185 supervivientes, Grupo 1 presenta menores problemas en la CdV: “Cuidados Personales” (OR = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.04−0.55), “Actividades habituales” (OR = 0.20, 95%CI: 0.08−0.0.52) y “Ansiedad/Depresión” (OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.14−0.97). La evaluación de la discapacidad mostró que Grupo 1 muestra menos dificultad em la “Cognición” (OR = 0.37, 95%CI: 0.15−0.91), “Movilidad” (OR = 0.25, 95%CI: 0.09−0.68), “Cuidados personales” (OR = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.05−0.40) y “Actividades de la vida” (OR = 0.32, 95%CI: 0.13−0.76.

Conclusiones

Dieciséis meses después del alta a casa, los supervivientes no-COVID-19 ingresados durante el periodo pandémico presentan peor CdV, estado funcional y mayores necesidades de atención sanitaria.

Palabras-clave:
Cuidados críticos
Seguimiento
Calidad de vida
Discapacidad
COVID-19

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