The odds of long COVID are much higher in West Virginia, at 18. 2%, than in Maryland, at 12. 2%, according to recent research from the Census Bureau’s ongoing survey measuring the effect of the pandemic.
States such as Idaho, with 16. 2%; Mississippi, with 17. 2%; and Kentucky, at 15. 9%, reports higher rates of long COVID than states like Delaware, at 11. 5%; Vermont, with 10. 8%; and Hawaii, with 11%.
In states with lower rates of long COVID, the percentage of people currently experiencing the condition is between 4% and 6%, and between 8% and 9% of those higher long-COVID rates have not recovered.
The analysis, published in the journal PLOS ONE, also found that other people suffering from long COVID are more likely to report intellectual fitness or mobility issues, according to the analysis.
The findings, according to the researchers, have significant implications for patients and doctors treating others with long COVID. While it’s hard to find a single explanation for why state and regional diversifications in long COVID rates, poverty and overall well-being seem to have higher rates of long COVID.
To reach his conclusions, lead researcher David Blanchflower, PhD, MSc, MBE, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, examined the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey and broke long COVID down by state, income, race, and gender. Interested in measures of happiness and well-being, he looked at mobility and mental health measures as well.
“[There is] immense fear about the consequences of long COVID on fitness and well-being,” he reported on his findings.
The Census Bureau’s Pulse survey began in March 2020 to measure the social impact of the pandemic, and the company gradually added questions about long COVID, he said.
Blanchflower’s research also found that:
The state-by-state breakdown of long COVID awareness aligns with other state fitness and wellness measures, Blanchflower said. The same states that had higher rates of long COVID — Alabama, Mississippi, and West Virginia — were also the ones that performed poorly. in Blanchflower’s previous studies of happiness. The same states also rank poorly on a well-being index generated through the Boston University School of Public Health.
It’s the same states in the Southeast and Midwest that come up short on health measures, said Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, the chief medical officer of the Associations of State and Territorial Health Officers. People are more likely to die of cancer or heart disease in those states.
“It fits any fitness issue,” he said. “We are still seeing a heavier burden in the Southeast and the Midwest. These are spaces that are not and where there is more poverty portfolio. “
Plescia does not believe the COVID results can be linked to public fitness measures discussed during the pandemic. There are too many variables, she says.
“There’s no real clear story on that,” Plescia said. ” And there’s so many factors that play into it.”
It was earlier research linking acute COVID and unusually poor mental health outcomes for young people that led Blanchflower to look at those links in his new research , he said. He measured well-being by looking at response to a series of four questions.
“In the last two weeks, how has it bothered you:
He found that long COVID is strongly associated with mental health problems like anxiety, depression, and worry. He also found that the correlation was strongest among those who currently report having long COVID.
“Having had COVID for a long time is strongly linked to the negative — anxiety, depression, worry, and lack of interest in things — and the correlation is most powerful among those who lately report long COVID, especially if they report severe symptoms. “He writes.
It also looked at knowledge about four other symptoms of long COVID: difficulty walking or climbing stairs, difficulty bathing or dressing, memory problems, and confusion.
The effects were similar: “[Long COVID], especially with existing symptoms, creates a particularly higher likelihood of facing two fitness situations and two intellectual fitness situations. “
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