925 – A Population-Based Study of Functional Disability, COVID-19 Symptoms, and Long COVID Among US Adults, 2025, Freeman et al

925 – A Population-Based Study of Functional Disability, COVID-19 Symptoms, and Long COVID Among US Adults

Jincong Q. Freeman, Xinyi Li, Victoria Umutoni, Ted O. Akhiwu, Heather J. Hoffman

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Background
COVID-19 can have long-term effects on health. People with disabilities may bear a heavier burden of COVID-19 and be more susceptible to severe and prolonged symptoms. This study assessed relationships between functional disability, COVID-19 symptoms, and long COVID in US adults.

Methods
We obtained population-based data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey using multistage probability sampling to interview adults aged ≥18 years. Any disability (yes/no) was defined by the Washington Group Composite Disability Indicator measuring self-reported levels of difficulty in 6 functional domains: vision, hearing, mobility, communication, cognition, and self-care.

Long COVID was defined as having symptoms lasting ≥3 months that individuals did not have before COVID-19. We also assessed symptom severity and receipt of ≥1 vaccine dose.

Weighted proportions (95% CI) were compared using Rao-Scott Chi-squared tests. We performed weighted logistic regression, controlling for sociodemographics and vaccination status, and calculated adjusted odds ratios (aOR; 95% CI). All analyses accounted for complex survey design.

Results
In this unweighted sample of 8946 adults (weighted n=89437918), the mean age was 44 years and 63.4% were White, followed by 19.2% Hispanic, 9.6% Black, and 7.8% Asian or Other. Overall, 7.6% (95% CI, 7.0-8.3%) had a disability and 19.7% (95% CI, 18.7-20.7%) experienced long COVID.

The percentage of long COVID was higher among adults with a disability than those without (33.7% [95% CI, 29.7-37.8%] vs 18.5% [95% CI, 17.5-19.6%]; P<.001). We observed a similar pattern across specific functional domains (Figure).

When adjusting for covariates, adults with a disability had significantly greater odds of long COVID than those without (aOR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.62-2.49; P<.001). Furthermore, adults with a disability were more likely than those without to have experienced severe COVID-19 symptoms (26.3% [95% CI, 22.8-29.8%] vs 13.6% [95% CI, 12.8-14.5%]; P<.001).

The proportion of having received ≥1 COVID vaccine dose was similar between adults with a disability (21.0%; 95% CI, 19.1-23.0%) and those without (20.4%; 95% CI, 19.5-21.2%) (P=.518).

Conclusions
Long COVID was more prevalent in US adults with a functional disability, and disability was associated with long COVID. Adults with a disability also experienced more severe COVID-19 symptoms.

Findings suggest that screening for symptoms and improving care access may help address long COVID disparities in populations with disabilities.

Link (Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections) [Abstract Only]

 

Wouldn’t some of the disabled people be disabled primarily because of LC? The abstract doesn’t mention if and how they accounted for this.