Background.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many cases of pneumonia with extensive lung abnormalities on CT-scans. The consequences of COVID-19 pneumonia on survivors’ pulmonary function and quality of life are unknown. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of COVID-19 pneumonia on pulmonary function, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and perceived dyspnoea.

Methods.

A prospective longitudinal cohort study regarding patients discharged from our hospital after PCR-proven, non-critical COVID-19 pneumonia was conducted. Cases were classified as moderate or severe pneumonia according to WHO definitions. Six weeks post-discharge subjects underwent interviews and pulmonary function tests, and completed questionnaires to assess their HRQoL, perceived dyspnoea (Borgscale and mMRC), and symptoms of depression and anxiety (HADS).

Results.

101 patients were included. Twenty-eight (27.7%) pneumonias were classified as moderate cases of COVID-19 pneumonia and 73 (72.3%) were classified as severe cases. Diffusion limitation (DLCOc < 80% of predicted value) was found in 66 (71.7%) of 92 cases, obstruction in 26 (25.7%) of 101, and restriction in 21 (21.2%) of 99. Diffusion capacity was significantly lower in cases after severe pneumonia. In the entire group, HADS scores ≥8 for depression were found in 16.6% and in 12.5% for anxiety. Across all SF-36 domains, except for bodily pain, significant impairment was found. FEV1 and DLCOc showed significant positive correlations with mMRC scores and multiple SF-36 domains, especially physical functioning.

Conclusion.

COVID-19 non-critical pneumonia survivors have significant impairment in diffusion capacity and HRQOL six weeks after being discharged from hospital.

背景。

COVID-19 大流行导致许多肺炎病例在 CT 扫描中出现广泛的肺部异常。COVID-19 肺炎对幸存者肺功能和生活质量的影响尚不清楚。本研究的目的是检查 COVID-19 肺炎对肺功能、健康相关生活质量 (HRQoL) 和感知呼吸困难的影响。

方法。

对经 PCR 证实的非危重 COVID-19 肺炎后出院的患者进行了一项前瞻性纵向队列研究。根据世界卫生组织的定义，病例被归类为中度或重度肺炎。出院后六周，受试者接受访谈和肺功能测试，并完成问卷以评估他们的 HRQoL、感知呼吸困难（Borgscale 和 mMRC）以及抑郁和焦虑症状 (HADS)。

结果。

包括 101 名患者。28 例 (27.7%) 肺炎被归类为 COVID-19 肺炎的中度病例，73 例 (72.3%) 被归类为重症病例。92 例中有 66 例 (71.7%) 存在弥散受限（DLCOc < 预测值的 80%），101 例中有 26 例（25.7%）存在阻塞，99 例中有 21 例（21.2%）存在弥散受限。严重肺炎后的病例。在整个组中，16.6% 和 12.5% 的抑郁症 HADS 评分≥8 分。在所有 SF-36 域中，除了身体疼痛外，都发现了显着的损伤。FEV1 和 DLCOc 与 mMRC 评分和多个 SF-36 域，尤其是身体机能呈显着正相关。

结论。

COVID-19 非危重肺炎幸存者在出院六周后扩散能力和 HRQOL 显着受损。