%0 Journal Article
%T The faces of Long-COVID: interplay of symptom burden with socioeconomic, behavioral and healthcare factors.
%A Schwartz CE
%A Borowiec K
%A Rapkin BD
%J Qual Life Res
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 Jul 30
%M 39078547
%F 3.44
%R 10.1007/s11136-024-03739-4
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>The long-term effects of COVID-19 (Long COVID) include 19 symptoms ranging from mild to debilitating. We examined multidimensional correlates of Long COVID symptom burden.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>This study focused on participants who reported having had COVID in Spring 2023 (n = 656; 85% female, mean age = 55, 59% college). Participants were categorized into symptom-burden groups using Latent Profile Analysis of 19 Long-COVID symptoms. Measures included demographics; quality of life and well-being (QOL); and COVID-specific stressors. Bivariate and multivariate associations of symptom burden were examined.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>A three-profile solution reflected low, medium, and high symptom burden, aligning with diagnosis confirmation and treatment by a healthcare provider. Higher symptom burden was associated with reporting more comorbidities; being unmarried, difficulty paying bills, being disabled from work, not having a college degree, younger age, higher body mass index, having had COVID multiple times, worse reported QOL, greater reported financial hardship and worry; maladaptive coping, and worse healthcare disruption, health/healthcare stress, racial-inequity stress, family-relationship problems, and social support. Multivariate modeling revealed that financial hardship, worry, risk-taking, comorbidities, health/healthcare stress, and younger age were risk factors for higher symptom burden, whereas social support and reducing substance use were protective factors.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Long-COVID symptom burden is associated with substantial, modifiable social and behavioral factors. Most notably, financial hardship was associated with more than three times the risk of high versus low Long-COVID symptom burden. These findings suggest the need for multi-pronged support in the absence of a cure, such as symptom palliation, telehealth, social services, and psychosocial support.