The Toll of Long COVID: New Study Sheds Light on Who’s at Greatest Risk
As the world continues to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has confirmed the high burden of long COVID and provided insight into who is most at risk for developing persistent symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Early in the pandemic, it became evident that many individuals were struggling to shake off their symptoms even weeks or months after their initial infection with the virus. Some even experienced new, persistent symptoms long after the infection had cleared, leading to the phenomenon known as “long COVID.”
Despite ongoing uncertainties about the exact cause of long COVID, the study offers some important revelations. One key finding is that individuals with milder infections, including those who were vaccinated or infected with the Omicron variant, were more likely to recover quickly.
Lead author Elizabeth C. Oelsner, an Associate Professor of Medicine, emphasizes the role that vaccination has played not only in reducing the severity of COVID-19 but also in lowering the risk of developing long COVID.
Study Details
The study, which involved over 4,700 participants from the Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID 19 Research (C4R), asked individuals to report their time to recovery after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
From 2020 to early 2023, the median recovery time after SARS-CoV-2 infection was found to be 20 days, with more than one in five adults taking longer than three months to fully recover. Women and individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular disease were less likely to recover within three months.
While certain health conditions such as chronic kidney disease, diabetes, asthma, and others were initially linked to longer recovery times, these associations became insignificant after considering factors such as sex, cardiovascular disease, vaccination status, and variant exposure. Surprisingly, pre-existing depressive symptoms did not emerge as a major risk factor for long COVID.
American Indian and Alaska Native participants were disproportionately affected, experiencing more severe infections and longer recovery times. Oelsner stresses the significant burden that long COVID poses on both individuals and society as a whole.
More Information
The study, titled “Epidemiologic Features of Recovery from SARS-CoV-2 Infection,” was published in JAMA Network Open on June 17. Detailed information about contributors and potential conflicts of interest can be found online.
By gaining a better understanding of who is most likely to experience prolonged recovery from COVID-19, researchers hope to pave the way for interventions and treatments that can mitigate the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
