ASSESSMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CHILDREN WITH LONG COVID BASED ON THE STANDARDIZED PEDSQL 4.0 QUESTIONNAIRE

Background
This study aimed to determine the quality of life and health status in children aged 2 to 18 years with long COVID.

Material and methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted among previously hospitalized patients using the validated Ukrainian version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory-4.0-Core-All questionnaire.

Results
Overall, 106 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were examined. The study group (44 children) included individuals with long COVID, and control group (49 children) included fully recovered patients. Children with long COVID had significantly lower quality of life scores than the healthy control (p=0.0001). Children with long COVID had lower estimates of physical and emotional functioning than those who had fully recovered. When comparing results by age, it was found that children under 6 years of age generally faced problems related to education and emotional well-being, while older children experienced difficulties with physical health. The analysis of quality of life by gender showed that girls had significantly worse results in physical and emotional functioning, the psychosocial domain, and the overall score.

Conclusions
A significant association has been established between the presence of long COVID in children and a decline in quality of life. The deterioration typically affected educational, physical, and emotional domains.