Characterization of baseline symptoms and functional impairments in a large cohort of outpatients attending a long covid rehabilitation clinic in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Objective: In response to the high prevalence and morbidity associated with long COVID (LC), outpatient rehabilitation programmes were created across jurisdictions. We aimed to characterize baseline symptoms and impairments of patients attending outpatient LC rehabilitation. Design: This study was a retrospective quality-improvement analysis. Subjects/Patients: Patients attending outpatient LC rehabilitation at the Oxfordshire Post-Covid Service. Methods: Data included age/sex and 6 questionnaires performed at baseline: Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F), Dyspnoea-12 (D12), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 (GAD-7), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of self-rated health, and the Work And Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS). All scores were dichotomized (indicating presence/absence of clinically significant pathology). Potential differences between age ( younger, χ2 = 3.19/p = 0.048), with no differences observed on other scales. Conclusion: In this preliminary study, a high proportion of LC outpatients had significant impairments across domains. The findings of this study reaffirm the need for high-quality, multidisciplinary LC rehabilitation, and may be used to help build a standardized set of outcome measures moving forward.

Keywords

• Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
• Rehabilitation
• Retrospective Studies