The Value of the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale in the Assessment of Post-COVID among Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities

• Published in: Healthcare (Basel) 2024-01, Vol.12 (3), p.333
• Main Authors: Goździewicz, Łukasz, Tobis, Sławomir, Chojnicki, Michał, Wieczorowska-Tobis, Katarzyna, Neumann-Podczaska, Agnieszka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Agreements; Care and treatment; Clinical outcomes; COVID-19; COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale; Disability; Disease transmission; Fatigue; Frailty; Illnesses; Infections; Long term health care; long-term care; Nursing; Nursing home patients; Older people; Pandemics; Patients; Post traumatic stress disorder; post-COVID-19; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Rehabilitation; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Software
• ISSN: 2227-9032; 2227-9032
• DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12030333

The COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19-YRS) is a patient-reported outcome measure designed to assess the long-term effects of COVID-19. The scale was validated and is commonly used in the general population. In this study, we assess the utility of the C19-YRS in evaluating the post-COVID burden among residents of long-term care facilities with a mean age of 79. C19-YRS and Barthel index evaluations were performed among 144 residents of long-term care facilities reporting new or worsened symptoms or functioning three months after convalescence from COVID-19. The C19-YRS-based screening showed that 70.9% of COVID-19 convalescents had ≥1 complaint three months after recovery. The highest C19-YRS-scored symptoms (indicating a higher burden) were breathlessness, fatigue, and cognitive and continence problems; however, symptomatology was very heterogeneous, revealing a high complexity of the disease in older persons. The mean total C19-YRS score was higher in hospitalized patients (n = 78) than in the outpatient group (n = 66) ( = 0.02). The functioning subscale of the C19-YRS strongly correlated with the Barthel index, with r = -0.8001 ( < 0.0001). A moderately strong correlation existed between retrospectively reported C19-YRS-based functioning and the Barthel index score reported before illness (r = 0.7783, < 0.0001). The C19-YRS is instrumental in evaluating the consequences of COVID-19 among long-term-care residents. The assessment allows for a broad understanding of rehabilitation needs.