Impact of Mental Health and Cognitive Disorders on Quality of Life in Severe Covid-19 Survivors

The objective of this single-center retrospective observational study is to describe cognitive and psychological outcomes and their impact on quality of life after at least 3 months of intensive care unit (ICU) discharge in severe COVID-19 survivors.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has already affected more than 600 million people worldwide and resulted in at least 6 million deaths (https:coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). The pandemic has also resulted in a growing population of individuals recovering from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Accumulating observational data suggest that these patients often experience a wide range of symptoms after recovery from acute illness. The dysfunctions ranging from motor, cognitive disability, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, there is still unknown data about the occurrence of mental health manifestations after a critical illness and their consequences in mid term quality of life. Purpose: Many patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) required critical care. Mid-term outcomes of the survivors need to be assessed. The objective of this single-center retrospective observational study is to describe their cognitive and psychological outcomes and their impact on quality of life afer at least 3 months following intensive care unit (ICU)-discharge. Objectives: Our objective will be to evaluate the incidence of non-physical post-intensive care syndrome, such as symptoms of anxiety, depression, cognitive and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after hospital discharge in our severe COVID-19 population, as well as determining their long-term consequences in quality of life (QoL). Methods: An observational retrospective study will be conducted, including all patients with severe COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit of a private tertiary hospital from April 2020 to October 2021. Patients were routinely assessed after 3 months of ICU discharge in our multidisciplinary follow-up clinic. A trained research team routinely applied the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MOCA), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), PCL-C (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist: Civilian Version) and Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36), during the follow-up evaluation.