Abstract

BACKGROUND: The long-term outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalisation in individuals with pre-existing airway diseases are unknown.

METHODS: Adult participants hospitalised for confirmed or clinically suspected COVID-19 and discharged between 5 March 2020 and 31 March 2021 were recruited to the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 (PHOSP-COVID) study. Participants attended research visits at 5 months and 1 year post discharge. Clinical characteristics, perceived recovery, burden of symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with pre-existing airway disease (i.e., asthma, COPD or bronchiectasis) were compared to the non-airways group.

RESULTS: A total of 615 out of 2697 (22.8%) participants had a history of pre-existing airway diseases (72.0% diagnosed with asthma, 22.9% COPD and 5.1% bronchiectasis). At 1 year, the airways group participants were less likely to feel fully recovered (20.4% versus 33.2%, p<0.001), had higher burden of anxiety (29.1% versus 22.0%, p=0.002), depression (31.2% versus 24.7%, p=0.006), higher percentage of impaired mobility using short physical performance battery ≤10 (57.4% versus 45.2%, p<0.001) and 27% had a new disability (assessed by the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning) versus 16.6%, p=0.014. HRQoL assessed using EQ-5D-5L Utility Index was lower in the airways group (mean±SD 0.64±0.27 versus 0.73±0.25, p<0.001). Burden of breathlessness, fatigue and cough measured using a study-specific tool was higher in the airways group.

CONCLUSION: Individuals with pre-existing airway diseases hospitalised due to COVID-19 were less likely to feel fully recovered, had lower physiological performance measurements, more burden of symptoms and reduced HRQoL up to 1 year post-hospital discharge.

Cite as

Elneima, O., Hurst, J., Echevarria, C., Quint, J., Walker, S., Siddiqui, S., Novotny, P., Pfeffer, P., Brown, J., Shankar-Hari, M., McAuley, H., Leavy, O., Shikotra, A., Singapuri, A., Sereno, M., Richardson, M., Saunders, R., Harris, V., Houchen-Wolloff, L., Greening, N., Harrison, E., Docherty, A., Lone, N., Chalmers, J., Ho, L., Horsley, A., Marks, M., Poinasamy, K., Raman, B., Evans, R., Wain, L., Sheikh, A., De Soyza, A., Heaney, L. & Brightling, C. 2024, 'Long-term impact of COVID-19 hospitalisation among individuals with pre-existing airway diseases in the UK: a multicentre, longitudinal cohort study - PHOSP-COVID', ERJ Open Research, 10, article no: 00982-2023. https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00982-2023

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Last updated: 20 August 2024
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