Assessment Of The Quality Of Life And Coping Strategies Of Covid-19 Recovered Patients At The Ghana Infectious Disease Center

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is the first global pandemic of the 21st century. Initially thought to be a respiratory disease, it is now known to affect multiple organ systems with variable presentation and devastating or fatal complications. Symptoms have been noted to persist after 30 days following recovery, resulting in what is known as “Long COVID”. Despite the large numbers of people who have suffered this disease globally and in Ghana, mid- to long-term impact of COVID- 19 on a person’s general well-being, physical function, and ability to return to work has not been fully investigated. This study sought to examine the self-rated quality of life, physical function, and general health in Ghanaian patients following clinical recovery from COVID-19 infection and the coping strategies used. Objective: To determine the Quality of Life (QoL) and coping strategies of Covid-19 recovered patients at the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional and hospital-based study was carried out on 150 recovered patients at the post-COVID-19 Review Clinic of the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre (GIDC). Quality of Life was estimated using the EuroQol Group Association five-domain, five level questionnaires (EQ-5D-5L). The Brief-COPE scale was used to assess the coping strategies of patients. Analysis of variance and linear regression was used to determine factors associated with QoL and coping strategies. Spearman correlation was used to establish the association between QoL and coping strategies. Results: The mean quality of life was slightly higher on the EQ-5D-5L percentage scale (81.5 ± 12.0) % compared to the self-reported EQ-VAS scale (75.6 ± 22.0) %. Scores above 50% and approaching 100% depict an increasingly good quality of life. Persistence of symptoms after 30 days and the development of complications were significant predictors for both quality-of-life scales. Differences were not significantly observed for all other socio-demographic factors such as marital status, place of residence, and ethnicity as well as other COVID related factors such as access to rehabilitative centres on their quality of life. Problem-focused strategy was the most used coping strategy among respondents (2.71± 0.64). Age, persistence of symptoms, being a non-healthcare worker, and development of complications post-COVID-19 were significant predictors of coping strategies. There were no significant differences observed for the other socio-demographic characteristics (sex, religion, ethnicity, marital status, place of residence and occupation) across all three coping strategy styles. Increasing quality of life was associated with decreasing coping mechanisms. Conclusion: Quality of life was relatively good post-infection. Persistence of symptoms and development of complications significantly predicted one’s quality of life. Participants generally adopted positive coping strategies during the COVID pandemic with a decreasing need to use a coping strategy as their QoL improved. Keywords: COVID-19, quality of life, recovered patients, coping strategies, Ghana