PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES AND PERCEIVED QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH PERSISTENT COVID: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

BACKGROUND: This study represents an advance in the preliminary study of the influence of psychological factors in the development of persistent COVID, which have been widely studied in other chronic diseases. In this sense, the aim is to test the influence of personality and expectations variables on the development of persistent symptoms of COVID and also compare the quality of life perceived by these patients, both physically and mentally.METOHDS: A comparative cross-sectional study has been carried out between patients with persistent COVID symptoms (n=84) and patients with previous COVID infection without symptoms compatibles with a diagnosis of persistent COVID (n=84), belonging to the health area of Burgos, and using three questionnaires to measure the psychological variables of interest.RESULTS: The results show that patients with persistent COVID present higher scores in the neuroticism dimension and in expectations of helplessness compared to the control group. Expectations of contingency, self-efficacy and success could act as protective factors as they occur more frequently in the group of people with COVID infection but who have not developed persistent symptoms. In addition, persistent COVID is related to a worse perceived quality of life, both physically and mentally.DISCUSSION: Further research is needed to advance the study of psychological variables related to COVID, thus addressing certain personality traits and cognitive structures, which could imply a greater psychological vulnerability, be related to a higher frequency and persistence of symptoms, and therefore to a poorer quality of life.<br><b>Keywords:</b> persistent covid, personality, expectations, quality of life, covid