Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Physical and mental health disability associated with long-COVID: Baseline results from a US nationwide cohort.


ABSTRACT:

Importance

Persistent symptoms after SARS-COV-2 infection, or long-COVID, may occur in anywhere from 10-55% of those who have had COVID-19, but the extent of impact on daily functioning and disability remains unquantified.

Objective

To characterize physical and mental disability associated with long-COVID.

Design

Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a cohort study.

Setting

Online US nationwide survey.

Participants

Adults 18 years of age and older who live in the US who either report a history of COVID-19 illness (n=8,874) or report never having had COVID-19 (n=633).

Main outcome and measures

Self-reported mobility disability (difficulty walking a quarter of a mile and/or up 10 stairs, instrumental activities of daily living [IADL] disability (difficulty doing light or heavy housework), and mental fatigue as measured by the Wood Mental Fatigue Inventory (WMFI).

Results

Of 7,926 participants with long-COVID, the median age was 45 years, 84% were female, 89% self-reported white race, and 7.4% self-reported Hispanic/Latino ethnicity. Sixty-five percent of long-COVID participants were classified as having at least one disability, compared to 6% of those with resolved-COVID (n=948) and 14% of those with no-COVID (n=633). Of long-COVID participants, about 1% and 5% were classified as critically physically disabled or mentally fatigued, respectively. Age, prior comorbidity, increased BMI, female gender, hospitalization for COVID-19, non-white race, and multi-race were all associated with significantly higher disability burden. Dizziness at the time of infection (33% non-hospitalized, 39% hospitalized) was associated with all five disability components in both hospitalized and non-hospitalized groups. Heavy limbs, dyspnea, and tremors were associated with four of the five components of disability in the non-hospitalized group, and heavy limbs was associated with four of the five components in the hospitalized group. Vaccination was protective against development of disability.

Conclusion and relevance

We observed a high burden of physical and mental disability associated with long-COVID which has serious implications for individual and societal health that may be partially mitigated by vaccination. Longitudinal characterization and evaluation of COVID-19 patients is necessary to identify patterns of recovery and treatment options.

SUBMITTER: Lau B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9753791 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Physical and mental health disability associated with long-COVID: Baseline results from a US nationwide cohort.

Lau Bryan B   Wentz Eryka E   Ni Zhanmo Z   Yenokyan Karine K   Coggiano Candelaria C   Mehta Shruti H SH   Duggal Priya P  

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 20221207


<h4>Importance</h4>Persistent symptoms after SARS-COV-2 infection, or long-COVID, may occur in anywhere from 10-55% of those who have had COVID-19, but the extent of impact on daily functioning and disability remains unquantified.<h4>Objective</h4>To characterize physical and mental disability associated with long-COVID.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a cohort study.<h4>Setting</h4>Online US nationwide survey.<h4>Participants</h4>Adults 18 years of age and older who  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC10263464 | biostudies-literature
| S-BSST1055 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC7926060 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8214371 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8392739 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC10802963 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8820961 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4739696 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC8436052 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8497028 | biostudies-literature