Prevalence and Predictors of Long Covid in a Cohort of Brazilian Adults 12 Months After Acute Infection: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, various reports have emerged regarding persistent symptomsassociated with Covid‐19. Nevertheless, there is insufficient data on the persistence of symptoms over time. This study sought toestimate the prevalence of persistent symptoms 12 months after Covid‐19 infection and identify predictors of long Covid inadults living in the State of Paraná, southern Brazil, according to the level of severity of Covid‐19 infection.Method: An observational and cross‐sectional survey was conducted with Brazilian adults diagnosed with Covid‐19, as assessedfrom data available in two official Covid‐19 notification databases in Brazil, using telephone interviews. Descriptive statistics,tests of associations and simple and multiple binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify predictors of long Covid.Results: In total, 1033 adults participated in the study. The overall prevalence of long Covid was 60.3% (n = 623). Prevalencewas higher in women (67.7%), people aged between 50 and 59 years (65.8%) and in individuals who received treatment in anIntensive Care Unit (ICU) during the acute phase of Covid‐19 infection (74.4%, n = 241). The risk factors associated with agreater chance of developing long Covid were: female (OR 2.38; 95% CI 1.55; 3.66), living in the Brazilian northwest healthmacro‐region (OR 2.20; 95% CI 1.21; 4.00), presenting multimorbidity (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.06; 3.28), having an average of sixsymptoms in the acute phase of Covid‐19 (OR 1.22; 95% CI 1.17; 1.28) and having received treatment in an ICU (OR 4.86; 95%CI 2.83; 8.35) and inpatient ward (OR 2.45; 95% CI 1.47; 4.09)