Enhancing EQ-5D-5L Sensitivity in Capturing the Most Common Symptoms in Post-COVID-19 Patients: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study with a Focus on Fatigue, Memory/Concentration Problems and Dyspnea Dimensions

Helena Janols, Carl Wadsten, Christoffer Forssell, Elena Raffeti, Christer Janson, Xingwu Zhou () and Marta A Kisiel ()
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Helena Janols: Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Infectious Diseases, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
Carl Wadsten: Department of Statistics, Uppsala University, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Christoffer Forssell: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
Elena Raffeti: Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Christer Janson: Department of Medical Sciences, Respiratory, Allergy and Sleep Research, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
Xingwu Zhou: Department of Statistics, Uppsala University, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Marta A Kisiel: Department of Medical Sciences, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University, 753 10 Uppsala, Sweden

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: This study aimed to determine whether the EQ-5D-5L tool captures the most common persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, memory/concentration problems and dyspnea, in patients with post-COVID-19 conditions while also investigating if adding these symptoms improves the explained variance of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In this exploratory cross-sectional study, two cohorts of Swedish patients (n = 177) with a history of COVID-19 infection answered a questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics and clinical factors, and their HRQoL was assessed using EQ-5D-5L with the Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS). Spearman rank correlation and multiple regression analyses were employed to investigate the extent to which the most common persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, memory/concentration problems and dyspnea, were explained by the EQ-5D-5L. The explanatory power of EQ-5D-5L for EQ-VAS was also analyzed, both with and without including symptom(s). We found that the EQ-5D-5L dimensions partly captured fatigue and memory/concentration problems but performed poorly in regard to capturing dyspnea. Specifically, the EQ-5D-5L explained 55% of the variance in memory/concentration problems, 47% in regard to fatigue and only 14% in regard to dyspnea. Adding fatigue to the EQ-5D-5L increased the explained variance of the EQ-VAS by 5.7%, while adding memory/concentration problems and dyspnea had a comparatively smaller impact on the explained variance. Our study highlights the EQ-5D-5L’s strength in capturing fatigue and memory/concentration problems in post-COVID-19 patients. However, it also underscores the challenges in assessing dyspnea in this group. Fatigue emerged as a notably influential symptom, significantly enhancing the EQ-5D-5L’s predictive ability for these patients’ EQ-VAS scores.

Keywords: EQ-5D-5L; fatigue; memory/concentration problems; dyspnea; EQ-VAS; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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