You have full access to this open access article. Survivors after acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS due to coronavirus disease COVID are at high risk of developing respiratory sequelae and functional impairment. The healthcare crisis caused by the pandemic hit socially disadvantaged populations. No significant effect of socio-economic status was identified on lung sequelae odds ratio OR , 1. In this prospective multicenter cohort of patients who survived acute respiratory distress syndrome due to coronavirus disease , socio-economic status defined by EPICES score was not significantly associated with respiratory sequelae 6 months after intensive care unit ICU discharge in French healthcare settings.
A recent meta-analysis of 23 observational cohort studies showed in pooled analysis that lower socio-economic status was associated with higher mortality up to 30 days after admission to critical care, and may also be associated with functional status and discharge destination after ICU admission [ 8 ]. The healthcare crisis caused by the COVID pandemic hit socially disadvantaged populations particularly hard [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], and may have exacerbated these social disparities in health [ 12 ].
A life-course trajectory of disadvantaged socio-economic status has been shown to be an important predictor of lower lung function during adulthood [ 14 ]. Details of the study design have previously been published [ 15 ]. In line with French legislation, oral informed consent was obtained from all patients. Moreover, patients who subsequently failed to attend the first evaluation at 6 months after ICU discharge or who did not have the required tests to enable evaluation of the primary endpoint were excluded from statistical analysis.
If patients fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, they were pre-included. Dependency was evaluated using the activities of daily living ADL [ 21 ] and lower limb weakness using the Borg scale before and after the 6MWT. Ecological deprivation was also assessed at the level of the IRIS aggregated units for statistical information using the French European Deprivation Index FEDI based on a combination of 10 weighted census-derived variables [ 26 ].
Data related to socio-demographic characteristics and the ICU stay until hospital discharge are detailed in the Supplemental eMethods 2. The primary outcome was the presence of lung sequelae at 6 months after ICU discharge, defined as the presence of any one or more of the following criteria:.
