The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Recovery from Cardiac Surgery Over Time: Results of the Cardiaccovid Study from three Uk National Lockdowns.

This prospective study (clinicaltrials.gov NCT04366167) explores health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), event-related distress (IES-R) and depression (CES-D) after cardiac surgery during the three UK national COVID-19 lockdowns. Overall, 253 patients participated (lockdown one n = 196; two n = 45; three n = 12) completing the above-mentioned questionnaires at baseline, one week after discharge and six weeks, six and 12 months after surgery. While EQ-5D-5L values were similar across all cohorts, those having surgery in lockdowns two and three had higher IES-R scores at 1-year and higher IES-R and CES-D baseline scores, respectively. Generally, increased distress, worse depression and poorer HRQoL were observed in women.