Prevalence and factors associated with long COVID in adults from Southern Brazil: findings from the PAMPA cohort

• Autor(a) principal: Feter, Natan
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Lucia Caputo, Eduardo, Santos Leite, Jayne, Mendes Delpino, Felipe, Silveira da Silva, Luísa, Pereira Vieira, Yohana, de Almeida Paz, Isabel, Quadros Santos Rocha, Juliana, Nascimento da Silva, Carine, Schröeder, Natália, Cozzensa da Silva, Marcelo, José Rombaldi, Airton
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Cadernos de Saúde Pública
• Texto Completo: https://cadernos.ensp.fiocruz.br/ojs/index.php/csp/article/view/8450
• topic: COVID Longa; Vacinação; Estudos de Coortes; COVID Largo; Vacunación; Estudios de Cohortes; Long COVID; Vaccination; Cohort Studies

Most COVID-19 survivors have reported experiencing persistent symptoms after the infection – these types of cases are known as long COVID. Since Brazil was an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, a high burden of long COVID is expected. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and factors associated with long COVID in adults in Southern Brazil, analyzing data from the PAMPA cohort. Participants filled out a self-reported online questionnaire in June 2022. This study only included subjects who tested positive for COVID-19. Long COVID was defined by any symptoms that persisted for at least three months after the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Poisson’s regression models with robust variance were used to identify factors associated with long COVID; and results were reported as prevalence ratios (PR) and respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). A total of 1,001 participants (77.4% women, mean age [SD] = 38.3 [11.9] years) were analyzed. The prevalence of long COVID among these patients was 77.4% (95%CI: 74.7; 79.9). The likelihood of long COVID was higher in unvaccinated participants (PR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.06; 1.42), in those with chronic conditions (PR = 1.13, 95%CI: 1.04; 1.24), and in those who were hospitalized due to the COVID-19 infection (PR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.16; 1.32). This prevalence was also higher in women (PR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.09; 1.33) than in men. Physical activity was associated with a reduced likelihood of fatigue, neurological complications, coughing, and headaches as persistent symptoms after a COVID-19 infection. It was found that three out of four adults in Southern Brazil experienced long COVID. Public policies aiming to reduce the burden of long COVID must be prioritized, especially in groups that are at higher risk of developing this harmful condition.