Post-COVID-19 Syndrome and Decrease in Health-Related Quality of Life in Kidney Transplant Recipients After SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Cohort Longitudinal Study from Northern Poland

This longitudinal study from Northern Poland involved 123 kidney transplant recipients who had contracted SARS-CoV-2. The results showed that post-COVID-19 syndrome significantly decreased the health-related quality of life in these patients, as measured by the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL-SF). The most common symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome, experienced by 70.1% of the participants, were fatigue (43.3%), hair loss (31.3%), memory impairment (11.9%), muscle aches, and headaches (11.9%). Difficulty breathing increased from 14.9% before infection to 34.3% after. The mean EQ-VAS score, a measure of health-related quality of life, dropped from 73.34 before infection to 64.83 after. Persistent symptoms were more common in older patients and those with greater comorbidity. The study emphasizes the need for long-term follow-up and rehabilitation programs for kidney transplant recipients recovering from COVID-19.