AUTHOR=Heller Oren , Chun Yung , Shapira Stav , Troen Aron , Shlomo Yaniv , Acri Mary , Marotta Phillip , Kulkarni Saneel , Kinnison Brendan , Grinstein-Weiss Michal 

TITLE=Prevalence of Long-COVID Among Low-Income and Marginalized Groups: Evidence From Israel

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 67 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1605086

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2022.1605086

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Objective: To identify the socio-demographic factors associated with the prevalence of long-COVID symptoms.
Method: We examined the association between acute-COVID (SARS-CoV-2) and long-COVID symptoms, by a cross-sectional analysis of data obtained on a prospective online-survey, conducted from November to December 2021 on a nationally-representative sample of the Israeli population (N=2,246).
Results: There is a greater likelihood of experiencing long-COVID symptoms among low-income and marginalized groups. After controlling for socio-demographic attributes, those who had moderate/severe acute-COVID were 1.3 (p<0.05) times more likely to experience a long-term symptom and also reported more long-term symptoms (2.2 symptoms) than those who have not been infected (1.4 symptoms; p<0.01). Among the low-income group, a larger gap in symptom count was found between those who had moderate/severe acute-COVID (3.3 symptoms) and those who had not been infected (1.8 symptoms, p<0.05).
Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of raising awareness of long-COVID among marginalized population groups, and to the therapeutic options available. Such efforts should be tailored and consider the unique socioeconomic and cultural characteristics, as well as the preexisting low access to healthcare services among these groups.