long covid effects on level of physical activity and health-related quality of life in the post-infection period: a cross-sectional study

Background: long covid is a major manifestation of long-lasting symptoms experienced by the survivors of the coronavirus infection that may influence patients’ physical and mental health. objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the association of the physical symptoms of covid-19 (fatigue, breathlessness, and pain) and the level of physical activity with the physical and mental health of survivors in the post-covid-19 period. methods: this was a cross-sectional study conducted on 152 hospitalized and non-hospitalized adults infected with covid-19 aged between 18 and 65 years at the post-infection period with follow-up times greater than 6 months. standardized instruments, such as the sf12, international physical activity questionnaire (ipaq), multidimensional fatigue inventory (mfi-20), and visual analog scale (vas), were used for measuring pre-and post-covid-19 painful symptoms, fatigue, and breathlessness. the severity of the coronavirus infection was judged based on hospitalization or icu admission. data were analyzed with linear regression analysis. results: the results showed that, at a mean duration of 6 months post-discharge, only fatigue was associated with lower physical (f = 2.84, explained variance = 15.3%) and mental health (f = 1.88, explained variance = 10.6%) conclusions: considering the negative impact of fatigue on the physical and mental health of patients during the post-covid period, it is suggested to monitor and manage fatigue for a longer period post-covid-19.