A new investigation by researchers from the University College London and Dartmouth College reveals that 14% of Americans had long COVID by the end of 2022. The findings of the investigation are published in PLOS One.
Furthermore, individuals who reported experiencing long COVID also reported higher levels of anxiety, low mood, and memory difficulties.
The data was gathered from the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, which received responses from 461,550 individuals between June 2022 and December 2022. The researchers compared survey answers among those who had long COVID, those who had COVID-19 without lingering symptoms, and those who had never had COVID-19.
During the survey, 47% of the respondents revealed a previous COVID-19 infection. Among them, 13.3% experienced “severe symptoms” during their illness. For individuals whose COVID-19 resolved within 3 months, only 7% reported severe symptoms. In contrast, 24% of those with a history of long COVID and 31% of those currently experiencing long COVID reported severe symptoms.
Little is known about long Covid and its impact on health and wellbeing.
Out of the 14% who reported long COVID, 7% stated that they were currently experiencing ongoing symptoms.
“Little is known about long Covid and its impact on health and wellbeing, but there is a growing body of evidence that many people experience persistent and concerning symptoms,” stated study co-author Alex Bryson, PhD, MSc, from the University College London Social Research Institute, in a press release.
Long COVID linked to anxiety
In general, women and individuals with lower education levels were more likely to report long COVID. The highest rate of long COVID was found in West Virginia (18% of the population), while the lowest was found in Hawaii (11%).
Long COVID was found to be independently associated with low mood, particularly anxiety.
“Those who have ever had long Covid remain more likely to report low mood, challenges in carrying out daily tasks, and challenges with memory, concentration, and understanding, compared to people who have never had long Covid,” explained Bryson.
New measure of long COVID severity
In related news, researchers have established an agreement on the most effective way to measure the severity and impact of long COVID by identifying a “Core Outcome Measure Set” (COMS), as stated in a report published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
Different guidelines for identifying and classifying long COVID have been used by various countries, public health agencies, and clinics. Most rely on the World Health Organization’s definition that a long COVID patient must experience new or ongoing symptoms for at least 12 weeks after initial infection.
In this report, 594 individuals from 58 countries participated in an online consensus meeting to develop the COMS. Twelve core outcomes were identified for long COVID patients, including fatigue or exhaustion, pain, post-exertion symptoms, work or occupational and study changes, and cardiovascular, nervous system, cognitive, mental health, and physical outcomes.
“This research has significantly narrowed down the range of preferred outcome measurement instrument options for researchers and clinicians to consider,” said Paula Williamson, PhD, from the University of Liverpool in a press release.
The authors of the study state that COMS is the first step towards developing treatments for long COVID, as it enables clinicians to create measurement tools to effectively document symptoms.
