Keywords: COVID-19; Health-related quality of life; Long-COVID; Outcomes; Post-COVID condition.
This study was developed to better understand how testing positive for COVID-19 affects people’s overall health and well being. The key issue that this study address is if COVID-19 infection has a measurable and lasting effect people’s heath related quality of life.This study used data from over 11,000 adults in Alberta to see how people’s overall health and well-being changed before and after testing positive for COVID-19. The survey was conducted between 2021 and 2023, and included individuals who tested positive or negative for COVID-19.The study found that people who tested positive for COVID-19 reported a bigger drop in their health-related quality of life than those who tested negative. This decline impacted several areas of daily life such as mobility, ability to partake in usual activities, pain, and mental health. The largest differences were seen within the first three months of COVID-19 infection, but they continued over a year later for some individuals. The biggest effects were in mental health, where over 10% of people who tested positive worsening mental health, compared to only 3% of people testing negative. Overall people with long-term health conditions (comorbidities) other than COVID-19 or who lived in more deprived areas reported worse outcomes.These findings suggest that testing positive for COVID-19 is linked to lasting impacts on physical and mental health, even after the initial illness has passed.