Abstract Purpose To describe health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and dyspnea of COVID-19, 2 and 12~months after an intensive care unit (ICU) stay . Methods Patients discharged from the ICU between April and June 2020 and subsequently transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility were assessed 2~months and 12~months after ICU admission. HRQoL was assessed by the EuroQoL EQ-5D-3L (visual analog scale and time trade-off normalized to the French population algorithm) and dyspnea was assessed by the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale. Results We enrolled 94 patients. Median EQ-5D-3L time trade-off was 0.80 (interquartile range, 0.36\textendash 0.91) at 2~months and 0.91 (0.52\textendash 1.00) at 12~months ( P \,=\,0.12). EQ-5D-3L visual analog scale was 70 (60\textendash 85) at 2~months and 70 (60\textendash 85) at 12~months ( P \,=\,0.07). The mMRC dyspnea scale was 3 (2\textendash 4) at ICU discharge, 1 (0\textendash 2), P \,<\,0.001 at 2~months and 1 (1\textendash 2) at 12~months. At 12~months, 68 (76%) patients reported at least one symptom that was not present prior to ICU admission and 27 (61%) of the 44 patients who were previously working had returned to work. On multiple linear regression, factors associated with EQ-5D-3L were body mass index on ICU admission, tracheostomy, male gender and active smoking. Conclusions Twelve months after ICU admission for COVID-19 and subsequent rehabilitation, a substantial proportion of patients reported alterations of HRQoL, dyspnea and symptoms that were not present prior to admission and a substantial proportion of these patients had not returned to work. Factors associated with a risk of poorer 12-month quality of life, may help to identify at-risk patients.