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Academic papers from the survey

Academic papers using data from the survey

 

Regular ONS bulletins on "Long COVID" from the survey 

ONS articles on "Long COVID" from the survey

10 July 2023 - Self-reported long COVID symptoms, UK

  • Of those respondents who self-reported long COVID, weakness or tiredness was the most common symptom reported as part of individuals' experience (60%), followed by shortness of breath (48%), muscle ache (42%), difficulty concentrating (37%) and joint pain (34%).

  • Of those responding that their ability to undertake day-to-day activities had been "limited a lot" by long COVID (19% of all respondents with self-reported long COVID), the most frequently reported symptoms were weakness or tiredness (88%), followed by shortness of breath (73%), muscle ache (70%), difficulty concentrating (66%) and joint pain (61%).

  • The median number of symptoms reported was 6 out of a possible total of 34 for those respondents who self-reported long COVID.

  • The median number of symptoms reported was 12 for those who reported that their long COVID symptoms reduced their ability to carry out day-to-day activities "a lot", 6 for those whose activities were reduced "a little", and 2 for those whose symptoms did not reduce their activity levels at all.

  • 55% of respondents who self-reported long COVID said their symptoms get worse after either mental or physical effort, or both, while 30% said their symptoms did not get worse and 15% answered as "don't know".

23 February 2023New-onset, self-reported long COVID after coronavirus (COVID-19) reinfection in the UK

  • 4.0% of adults (aged 16 years and over) and 1.0% of children and young people (aged 2 to 15 years) reported having long COVID 12 to 20 weeks after a first coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, from 1 November 2021.
  • Among those who did not report having long COVID after a first COVID-19 infection, 2.4% of adults and 0.6% of children and young people reported long COVID following a second COVID-19 infection.
  • After adjusting for factors related to the risk of both COVID-19 reinfection and self-reported long COVID (sociodemographic characteristics, vaccination status, and the date of infection as an indicator of the variant type), the odds of new-onset, self-reported long COVID among adults were 28% lower after a second COVID-19 infection, compared with a first infection.
  • Among children and young people, there was no statistical evidence of a difference in the adjusted odds of new-onset, self-reported long COVID between first and second COVID-19 infections.
  • Similar differences in adjusted odds between first and second infections were observed when focussing on new-onset long COVID that limited daily activities, but at lower levels of prevalence: 2.8% for first infections compared with 1.6% for second infections among adults, and 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively, among children and young people.
  • There was no evidence of differences in the relative risk of reporting new-onset long COVID after a second COVID-19 infection, compared with a first infection, by age, sex, ethnicity, pre-existing health status, area deprivation quintile group, or vaccination status. 

5 December 2022Self-reported long COVID and labour market outcomes, UK

  • In July 2022, 23.3% of people aged 16 to 64 years with self-reported long COVID (symptoms at least four weeks after a confirmed or suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) infection that could not be explained by something else) were economically inactive (not working and not looking for work), compared with 21.4% of those without self-reported long COVID.

  • Between July 2021 and July 2022, the inactivity rate among working-age people with self-reported long COVID grew by 3.8 percentage points, compared with 0.4 percentage points among working-age people without self-reported long COVID.

  • Among working-age people not in full-time education, the odds of inactivity (excluding retirement) for those reporting long COVID 30 to 39 weeks or 40 to 51 weeks after a first test-confirmed COVID-19 infection were 45.5% and 34.3% higher, respectively, compared with before infection; this was after adjusting for background rates of inactivity in the labour market.

  • The relationship between self-reported long COVID and inactivity (excluding retirement) was strongest for people aged 50 to 64 years, where the higher odds of inactivity compared with pre-infection peaked at a 71.2% increase among people reporting long COVID 30 to 39 weeks post-infection.

  • Compared with before a first test-confirmed COVID-19 infection, employed people with self-reported long COVID were more likely to experience long-term workplace absence (for example, through sickness) 18 to 29 weeks after infection, but not beyond this.

  • Among people aged 50 to 64 years who were in employment 12 to 20 weeks after a first test-confirmed COVID-19 infection, transition to retirement occurred at similar rates for participants with and without self-reported long COVID, at 69.1 and 68.4 retirements, respectively, per 1,000 people per year.

 

 

18 July 2022 - Self-reported long COVID after infection with the Omicron variant in the UK

  • Of triple-vaccinated adults, 4.5%, 4.2% and 5.0% self-reported having long COVID 12 to 16 weeks after a first laboratory-confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection compatible with the Omicron BA.1, Omicron BA.2 or Delta variants, respectively, using data to 27 May 2022.

  • There was no statistical evidence of differences in the odds of reporting long COVID between infections compatible with the Omicron BA.1, Omicron BA.2 and Delta variants among adults who were triple vaccinated when infected; this was after statistically adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics for all comparisons, and for time since last vaccine dose when comparing Omicron BA.1 and BA.2.

  • Of double-vaccinated adults, 4.0% self-reported long COVID 12 to 16 weeks after a first infection compatible with the Omicron BA.1 variant, compared with 9.2% for those compatible with the Delta variant.

  • The odds of reporting long COVID were 48.2% lower for first COVID-19 infections compatible with the Omicron BA.1 variant than those compatible with the Delta variant among adults who were double vaccinated when infected; this was after statistically adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics.

6 May 2022 - Self-reported long COVID after infection with the Omicron variant in the UK

  • The odds of reporting long COVID symptoms four to eight weeks after a first coronavirus (COVID-19) infection were 49.7% lower in infections compatible with the Omicron BA.1 variant than those compatible with the Delta variant among adults who were double-vaccinated when infected; this was after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics.

  • However, there was no statistical evidence of a difference in risk between first infections compatible with the Delta and Omicron BA.1 variants among triple-vaccinated adults; the socio-demographically adjusted prevalence of self-reported long COVID was 8.5% for Delta and 8.0% for Omicron BA.1.

  • There was also no statistical evidence of a difference in risk between first infections compatible with the Delta and Omicron BA.2 variants among triple-vaccinated adults; the socio-demographically adjusted prevalence of self-reported long COVID was 7.4% for Delta and 9.1% for Omicron BA.2.

  • The odds of reporting long COVID symptoms four to eight weeks after a first COVID-19 infection were 21.8% higher after an infection compatible with Omicron BA.2 than Omicron BA.1 among adults who were triple-vaccinated when infected; this was after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics and time since last COVID-19 vaccination.

  • The results above relate to long COVID symptoms of any severity; similar findings were obtained when focussing on symptoms that limited daily activities, except there was no statistical evidence of a difference in the likelihood of activity-limiting long COVID between the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants.

26 January 2022 - Self-reported long COVID after two doses of a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine in the UK

  • In a sample of UK adults aged 18 to 69 years, receiving two doses of a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine at least two weeks before a first test-confirmed COVID-19 infection was associated with a 41.1% decrease in the odds of self-reported long COVID at least 12 weeks later, relative to socio-demographically similar study participants who were not vaccinated when infected (Figure 1).

  • This analysis was based on data to 30 November 2021, and longer follow-up time is needed to assess the impact of booster doses and the Omicron variant; furthermore, the observational nature of the analysis means that we cannot say whether COVID-19 vaccination caused subsequent changes in the likelihood of self-reported long COVID.

  • Long COVID symptoms of any severity were reported by 9.5% of double-vaccinated study participants, compared with 14.6% of socio-demographically similar participants who were unvaccinated when infected; the corresponding estimates for long COVID symptoms severe enough to result in limitation to day-to-day activities were 5.5% and 8.7% respectively.

  • There was no statistical evidence that the relationship between vaccination status at the time of infection and the likelihood of subsequently reporting long COVID symptoms differed by whether participants received adenovirus vector (Oxford/AstraZeneca) or mRNA (Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna) vaccines.  

25 October 2021 - Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination and self-reported long COVID in the UK

  • Receiving a first coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination was associated with an initial 13% decrease in the likelihood of self-reported long COVID (symptoms persisting for at least 12 weeks after first having COVID-19 that were not explained by something else) among study participants aged 18 to 69 years in the UK who had confirmed COVID-19 prior to vaccination, using data to 5 September 2021.
  • However, it is unclear from the data whether the improvement in self-reported long COVID symptoms after receiving the first vaccination was sustained over time until receiving the second vaccination.
  • Receiving a second COVID-19 vaccination was associated with 9% decrease in the likelihood of self-reported long COVID, relative to having received the first vaccination, and there was statistical evidence of a sustained improvement after this.
  • There was no statistical evidence of differences in post-vaccination trends of self-reported long COVID between participants who received an adenovirus vector (Oxford/AstraZeneca) vaccine and those who received an mRNA (Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna) vaccine.
  • There was also no statistical evidence of differences in trends according to socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, ethnic group and area deprivation) or health-related factors (self-reported health status not related to COVID-19, and whether ever hospitalised with acute COVID-19).
  • The observational nature of the study means that we cannot say whether COVID-19 vaccination caused subsequent changes in the likelihood of self-reported long COVID; also, study follow-up after receiving the second vaccination was limited, so long-term associations between COVID-19 vaccination and self-reported long COVID remain unknown.