Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental Disability
COVID-19’s impact on quality of life (QoL) has been studied; however, data on the effects of long COVID on QoL and mental disability remain limited. This study aimed to investigate whether long COVID is associated with decreased QoL and increased mental disability. We analyzed data from adults (≥18...
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MDPI AG
2024-10-01
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| Series: | COVID |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/4/11/120 |
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| author | Jaewhan Kim Emeka Elvis Duru Peter Weir Sanghoon Lee |
| author_facet | Jaewhan Kim Emeka Elvis Duru Peter Weir Sanghoon Lee |
| author_sort | Jaewhan Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | COVID-19’s impact on quality of life (QoL) has been studied; however, data on the effects of long COVID on QoL and mental disability remain limited. This study aimed to investigate whether long COVID is associated with decreased QoL and increased mental disability. We analyzed data from adults (≥18 years) in the 2022 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Physical and mental QoL were assessed using the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey, while mental disability was measured with the Kessler Index. Long COVID was defined as experiencing COVID-related symptoms for over 3 months. To account for skewness in the outcome variables, the study employed survey-weighted generalized linear regression with a log link and gamma distribution. The analysis included 153,330,408 subjects (unweighted n = 10,975). The average age of those with and without long COVID was similar (51 vs. 52 years, <i>p</i> = 0.46). Subjects with long COVID had a 3% lower physical QoL (β = −0.03, <i>p</i> = 0.02), a 4% lower mental QoL (β = −0.04, <i>p</i> < 0.01), and a 26% higher mental disability score (β = 0.26, <i>p</i> < 0.01) compared to those without long COVID. These findings highlight the urgent need for targeted strategies to address long COVID and support patients in recovering their pre-COVID QoL and mental health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-efc417930f48411795ab8193bf4d658c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2673-8112 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | COVID |
| spelling | doaj-art-efc417930f48411795ab8193bf4d658c2025-08-20T02:08:14ZengMDPI AGCOVID2673-81122024-10-014111719173010.3390/covid4110120Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental DisabilityJaewhan Kim0Emeka Elvis Duru1Peter Weir2Sanghoon Lee3Department of Physical Therapy, University of Utah, 520 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USADepartment of Pharmacotherapy, University of Utah, 30 South 2000 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USAMedical Group Population Health, University of Utah, 50 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USADepartment of Economics, Hannam University, 70 Hannamro, Daedukgu, Daejeon 34430, Republic of KoreaCOVID-19’s impact on quality of life (QoL) has been studied; however, data on the effects of long COVID on QoL and mental disability remain limited. This study aimed to investigate whether long COVID is associated with decreased QoL and increased mental disability. We analyzed data from adults (≥18 years) in the 2022 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Physical and mental QoL were assessed using the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey, while mental disability was measured with the Kessler Index. Long COVID was defined as experiencing COVID-related symptoms for over 3 months. To account for skewness in the outcome variables, the study employed survey-weighted generalized linear regression with a log link and gamma distribution. The analysis included 153,330,408 subjects (unweighted n = 10,975). The average age of those with and without long COVID was similar (51 vs. 52 years, <i>p</i> = 0.46). Subjects with long COVID had a 3% lower physical QoL (β = −0.03, <i>p</i> = 0.02), a 4% lower mental QoL (β = −0.04, <i>p</i> < 0.01), and a 26% higher mental disability score (β = 0.26, <i>p</i> < 0.01) compared to those without long COVID. These findings highlight the urgent need for targeted strategies to address long COVID and support patients in recovering their pre-COVID QoL and mental health.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/4/11/120long COVIDquality of lifemental disabilityMEPS |
| spellingShingle | Jaewhan Kim Emeka Elvis Duru Peter Weir Sanghoon Lee Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental Disability COVID long COVID quality of life mental disability MEPS |
| title | Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental Disability |
| title_full | Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental Disability |
| title_fullStr | Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental Disability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental Disability |
| title_short | Long COVID Is Associated with Decreased Quality of Life and Increased Mental Disability |
| title_sort | long covid is associated with decreased quality of life and increased mental disability |
| topic | long COVID quality of life mental disability MEPS |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/4/11/120 |
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