Huertas-Hoyas, ElisabetRodríguez-Rivas, CristinaRodríguez-Pérez, Mª PilarGarcía-de-Miguel, MaríaTrugeda-Pedrajo, NuriaDelgado-Lobete, LauraFernández-Gómez, GemmaCamacho-Montaño, Lucia2025-02-122025-02-122024-10-30Huertas-Hoyas E, Rodríguez-Rivas C, Rodríguez-Pérez MP, García-de-Miguel M, Trugeda-Pedrajo N, Delgado-Lobete L, Fernández-Gómez G, Camacho-Montaño LR. Balance and Health-Related Quality of Life After 1 Year of COVID-19 Social Restriction Measures: A Cross-Sectional Study in Two Samples from Spain. Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Oct 30;12(21):2164.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/26322Background: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the well-being of the general population. However, more information is needed regarding the relationship between participation-related outcomes. This study aimed to analyze the impact of the pandemic on occupational balance (OB) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) before and after social restrictions and to explore their relationship with COVID-19 diagnosis. Methods: We conducted a study among individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, assigning a healthy control group with the same sociodemographic characteristics using the EQ-5D-5L and the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ). Results: The final sample size consisted of 61 participants in the COVID-19 diagnosis group (50.8% male; mean age 34.6 ± 14.17 years) and 57 healthy participants (50.8% male; mean age 33.7 ± 13.77 years). There were no differences in the sociodemographic variables between the groups. Significant differences were found between groups both before the pandemic and 1 year after confinement measures in HRQoL and OBQ (p < 0.005). The regression model indicated significant associations (p < 0.001) between HRQoL and both current OB and COVID-19 diagnosis. However, the OBQ scores from before the pandemic did not show a significant association with HRQoL (p = 0.336). Conclusions: In conclusion, social restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted HRQoL in our sample even 1 year after confinement, with COVID-19 diagnosis and occupational imbalance predicting worse outcomes, highlighting the need for targeted interventions not only for the current situation but also for possible future public health crises.engVoRhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Home lockdownOccupational balancePandemicQuality of lifeSocial constraintsAttribution 4.0 International395173761221216410.3390/healthcare122121642227-9032Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)open access