Health-related quality of life among patients with long COVID according to the presence of a diagnosis of functional somatic disorder: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Long COVID is associated with poor health-related quality of life (QoL), with substantial interindividual variations. This study aimed to investigate the association between QoL and a diagnosis of functional somatic disorder (FSD) among patients seeking care for long COVID. Methods Data were drawn from the CASPer-COVID program, a multidisciplinary tertiary care program for patients with persistent symptoms following COVID-19. QoL was evaluated with the 36-Item Short-Form health survey (SF-36), yielding a Physical Component Summary (PCS) and a Mental Component Summary (MCS). Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations between PCS or MCS scores and a diagnosis of FSD, adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, comorbidities, hospitalization for acute COVID-19, core persistent symptoms, symptom duration, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and physical activity. Results The analyses included 773 patients (median age [interquartile range (IQR)]: 44 [36−55] years; 64% women). QoL was markedly impaired (median PCS [IQR]: 44 [31−60]; median MCS [IQR]: 39 [31−49]). A diagnosis of FSD (76.5% of patients) was not associated with MCS (β [95% CI]: 1.11 [−1.30, 3.53]) or PCS (β [95% CI]: −1.60 [−3.88, 0.67]) scores in adjusted analyses. Lower PCS and MCS scores were associated with higher depressive and anxiety symptoms, lower physical activity levels, and pain. In addition, lower PCS scores were associated with female gender, hospitalization for acute COVID-19 and longer symptom duration. Conclusion In patients seeking care for long COVID in a tertiary care setting, QoL did not differ significantly between those diagnosed with FSD and other patients.