health-related quality of life (hrqol) in covid-19 patients after recovering from the acute infection

Background: nearly four years after the covid-19 outbreak, its burden persists, with long-term physical and mental impacts still being discovered. objectives: given that these effects may vary across different periods post-infection and in diverse cultural, medical, and economic settings, we aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life (hrqol) in iranian patients six months after acute infection. methods: a total of 194 infected patients were enrolled and re-evaluated six months after the onset of acute infection. health-related quality of life was assessed using the validated eq-5d-3l questionnaire. results: the mean age of patients was 50.1 ± 15.8 years, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.04. diabetes mellitus and hypertension were the most common comorbidities. significant impairment was observed in all categories of hrqol after recovery from acute covid-19 infection (p-value < 0.05). female gender, older age, and intensive care unit admissions were independent factors associated with worsened health status post-recovery. the overall reduction in post-covid-19 infection quality of life (qol) score was 25%. conclusions: the mental and physical burden of covid-19 in our study population was considerable. comorbid conditions and a lack of supportive measures post-infection, especially in a low-income country, may contribute to the long-term effects of covid-19.